The Road Not Taken
by readwritereview20
Summary: *The third and final installment in my Distance trilogy.* With the threat of execution for crimes he has already been tried for looming over his head, Eric is forced to forge a deeper alliance with the man he once hated. [Series now complete]
1. Prologue

**So here we begin the end of our journey. A couple of things I wanted to mention:**

**In my version of events Jeanine is still alive; Tori killed her in the books because she believed that she was responsible for the death of her brother. In my universe Tori knows that George is alive.**

**I apologize if Evelyn is a bit out of character in my universe.**

**I hope you all enjoy the final leg of Gabby and Eric's journey! And, as always, I do not own Divergent or Eric.**

**Prologue**

**Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,**

**And sorry I could not travel both**

**And be one traveler, long I stood**

**And looked down one as far as I could**

**To where it bent in the undergrowth….**

**I shall be telling this with a sigh**

**Somewhere ages and ages hence:**

**Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—**

**I took the one less traveled by,**

**And that has made all the difference.**

**~~The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost~~**

In the last week my life has gone from beginning to finally look up, to spiralling out of control again. My best friend's funeral was one of the low points; and the realization that I would have to break my promise to drink myself into a hole if she ever died added to the enormous amount of guilt I was already feeling. Although she had promised me she wouldn't cry at my funeral, so I guess I didn't need to feel quite as bad.

Most of the last week has been spent in the room that was Eric's office these last two months. As soon as they took Eric, Four brought me here to wait while he went to talk to his mother, Meghan came by to check on me and tell me all about the Edith Prior video that they had discovered in Jeanine's office. I didn't want to be alone, so she stayed the night. The next morning we ended up dragging a couple more cots in and I have been sharing the room with Meghan, Justin, Jeff, and Alvin. The complex is cramped with people that Evelyn wants to keep an eye on so most of the rooms are packed to capacity now, but Eric's office was fairly large so it isn't that bad.

I ventured out of my room today at Four's behest to come with him to plead Eric's case to his mother once again. That is where I find myself now; sitting in a chair in what used to be Jeanine's office, with Evelyn Johnson staring at me like I am some sort of bug she wants to squish. I pull the sleeves of the baggy sweatshirt of Eric's that I chose to wear to hide my stomach down past my hands, a nervous habit whenever I am wearing something with long sleeves.

I clear my throat, leaning forward a bit before beginning, "I wanted to start off by thanking you for allowing me to meet with you." She continues to stare at me, not replying or reacting at all for that matter. After a moment I glance at Four who is leaning against the wall to the left of his mother's newly claimed desk, after a moment he nods to encourage me to continue. "I'll be the first to admit that Eric isn't perfect, and he has certainly made his fair share of mistakes, but…"

"So you understand why I intend to try him alongside Jeanine Matthews," She cuts me off with a raised, challenging eyebrow.

I take a deep breath, doing my best to maintain a diplomatic tone, "No, actually. Like I said he has made mistakes, but who hasn't? And in the past two months, he has not only helped your cause by assisting in the planning and execution of the plan to attack Erudite and take down Jeanine, but he has also saved the lives of several people," My voice has been steadily rising in volume throughout me speech and I have not paused for breath. I take a quick breath before dropping my volume to an acceptable level, "Including your son."

Evelyn leans forward, resting her elbows on the stack of papers in front of her, and in that moment I don't really see much of a difference between her and the woman she seems to hate so much. She narrows her predatory eyes at me before giving me a patronizing smile, "Of course all of these things will be taken into consideration at his trial. However, I cannot expect that the woman carrying his child would be much of an unbiased witness to his character."

I turn and shoot Four a look, but he looks just as confused as I feel. I turn back to Evelyn, who is watching the exchange with a look of amusement. "How did you…"

She chuckles, "It seems Jeanine had gathered more information than you gave her credit for, my dear." She pulls open one of the drawers in the desk before holding up a thick file, "It seems as though she had her eye on you for some time."

I close my eyes for a brief moment before shaking my head and opening them again, "Who I am to him doesn't matter, what matters is that he has changed."

"We'll see," She replies with a shrug, "But I am afraid that if you came here expecting me to see your side and allow a known killer to walk away scot free, you were quite wrong."

I find my hands tightening around the arms of the chair, "Eric is Dauntless, the only ones who have the right to try him for those crimes are Dauntless leadership. He has already been tried by our leaders, again including your son, and pardoned for his crimes as long as he remained loyal to dauntless."

"And within a week he was back here, working for Jeanine right along with the other traitors from your former faction," She shoots back, seemingly losing patience as I do.

"To help with…"

Again, she cuts me off, "And reguardless of his reasons and the former judgments of Dauntless, the faction system no longer matters." She stands, smoothing out the wrinkles in her top, "Tobias, please show your friend to the door."

Four gives her a look before pushing off from the wall, he stops when he reaches me and turns to face her, "It couldn't hurt to at least let her see him," He comments with a challenging look.

Evelyn tilts her head to the side, seeming a bit annoyed by her son's challenge, but she concedes none the less, "Alright, I'll arrange for you to see him later today."

I nod and let Four lead me out into the hall. "Thank you," I whisper softly before turning to leave.

He reaches out and grabs my arm before I can get too far, "I'll talk to her." I nod in appreciation and begin the walk back to Eric's office.

**Sorry it took me a bit longer to get it posted, I have been really really sick again and they have had me on some really strong medication. Let's just say that I have been less than coherent these past couple days.**

**As always thanks to all of you for reading and I hope to keep hearing from you all. And thank you, as always, to my awesome beta Lady Dane.**


	2. Chapter 1

***slowly peaks head into the room***

**Hey guys! I know, I am a terrible person for keeping you waiting for so long. Life has been… a roller-coaster. My cousin died very suddenly, my grandma has been in and out of the hospital, I have been super sick, I lost my job, and I started a new job. Add writers block to that mixture and you've got my impromptu hiatus. You can also blame Lady Dane for introducing me to the world of RPing on Tumblr… ;p (I have an Eric and a Gabby account so if anyone RPs let me know and I can get you my url) I'm sorry, I really am, and I will try not to keep you guys waiting any longer.**

** – So much… lol**

**cheetocity**** – Don't cry, I have returned! Sorry it took so long, but your review did help. **

**butterflyrebel2224**** – Aww, thank you!**

**aussieKayz**** – I hope you like it.**

**Strike OOO**** – Yeah, sorry for last chapter being slow. Things will pick up soon, I promise. **

**just asking – Gabby got captured, Eric "captured" Four and pretended to still be working for Jeanine. He then helped Four escape with Gabby and Tris, but stayed behind to help with the attack on Erudite and after the attack he was arrested by Evelyn. Hope that helped, if not let me know. : ) **

**morbidly-funny**** – I hope you are still excited, and I am trying. **

**MonsterSlut**** – Very true, and thank you!**

**Thoreau**** – I hope you like it, sorry it took so long**

**yepitzjustx**** – Thank you! I know, Insurgent in March will be my undoing. **

**Laura013**** – I'll see what I can do about everyone living :P **

**pmollymay**** – Interesting prediction… ;) We will just have to see!**

**ViaDownTheRabbitHole**** – Thank you! Your review made my day when I got it originally and today when I re-read them all to reply. **

**Olivia-Ivy**** – I never liked her either, I hope you are still excited for the story even though it has been so long.**

**Unfortunately, I have not managed to acquire Eric during my hiatus.**

**Chapter One**

**Eric's POV**

I pace back and forth across the small cell, stepping over the legs and feet of my cell mates, trying desperately to think of a way out of here. It's been a week since I was torn away from my Gidget, a week of being left to rot in a cell, wondering what Evelyn and her Factionless goons have in store for me.

I have no doubt that she plans to execute me, publicly. After all what's the point of cuing if you're not going to squash any threat to your new leadership. In this case, that means squashing the current government and appeasing the people by giving them what they want.

The cell door opens slowly, revealing a guard in a pair of black ratty cargo pants and a red sweatshirt. He points his gun at me, "Hands behind your back."

"Why?" I find myself asking, standing my ground with my arms crossed over my chest. This man is almost inevitably here to lead me to my execution. I try to look unconcerned in an attempt to fool others into thinking that I was not afraid to die, desperately trying to fool myself into believing it too.

The guard rolls his eyes, refusing to dignify my question with a response as he walks forward into the cell. He is quickly followed by another man who is holding a small black device. I don't have time to react before the searing pain of being tazed spreads through me and I find myself on my knees. The pain ends as quickly as it came, leaving me panting for breath as the first man forces my arms behind my back and handcuffs me.

I am pulled to my feet and led out into the hall. I watch as the second man locks the cell before turning to stand in front of it. The first man leads me through the halls until we reach a room that I recognize as the interrogation room where I pretended to torture Four for information just over a week ago.

For a brief moment I panic, wondering if he has decided to get his revenge before letting his mom kill me. I am mentally preparing myself for the worst, with access to Jeanine's files they could easily have my fear landscape information, but when the door opens it is not Four or Evelyn on the other side.

"You have five minutes," The guard orders as he shoves me inside, promptly slamming the door behind me.

"Eric," Gabby gasps, springing from her chair and hurrying to me, throwing her arms around my neck.

"What's going on, Gabby? They haven't hurt you, have they? If they did I'll kill them…" I ask start rambling quietly before she cuts me off by chuckling softly.

She pulls back, looking like she might cry but she is trying her best to hold it together. "I'm fine. It's you that I'm worried about."

I take a deep breath, "Because Evelyn is going to execute me?"

She nods confirmatively, resting her head on my chest, "I finally got her to meet with me this morning, but she wouldn't listen to me. I tried to explain that you were on our side, but she found a way to turn every argument I had for your release against you. She wants blood, your and everyone else that she deems guilty." She pulls back, actually crying now, the tears streaming down from her bloodshot blue eyes.

"Don't keep arguing with her, the more you make her your enemy, the more likely she is to try to tie you to my mistakes." I take a deep breath, "I can't die knowing that you two aren't safe, so don't do anything stupid."

She shakes her head furiously, "I just got you back, I can't lose you again. I can't do this without you, Eric."

"You can," I reply with a smirk, "You're strong and smart, and I know that you can keep going when I'm gone." I lean my forehead against hers, "I need you to know that you'll be okay. I love you, and if you love me you won't give up, no matter what."

The sound of the door being unlocked reaches my ears moments before her arms are around my neck, her lips on mine. I barely have time to kiss her back before she is pulled away by a guard.

"Time's up," the man says gruffly as another man pulls me away.

"I love you," She says, her eyes never leaving mine as they take me away.

**I have missed you guys so very much and I hope that you have not all left because I was gone. For all you new people: the reviews, favorites, and follows that I got while I was gone are a huge part of what inspired me to come back. So thank you.**

**If you want a short story to read between now and next chapter, you can check out It Was Always You, which I wrote and posted while I was gone from this story. (It's another Eric/OC)**

**AND****, if everyone would please go harass Lady Dane for me and convince her to get her butt back on fanfic, that would be great.**

**Love you all!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello again lovelies! I am slowly but surely getting past the writer's block. I know exactly what needs to happen, but getting it on paper has been a different story. Bear with me and I promise I will finish this trilogy. I have also been super sick once again, although when am I not, so that hasn't helped either.**

**Thank you to these amazing people for reviewing last chapter:**

**Guest ****– I will try not to make this last installment devastating. I'm happy that you are excited that I'm back.**

**hazu23**** – Thank you :D**

**The souless ones**** – Glad you liked it**

**Strike OOO**** – I'm glad to be back**

**Sandrainthesun**** – Awww, thank you. You are so sweet; I have no idea what I did to deserve readers like you. And you get bonus points for singing Rebal Yell to me. ;)**

**Cheetocity**** – Thank you!**

**Ruwaydah Zara**** – Thank you, I'm glad that you like my story. Don't worry, I have no intention of stopping until the story has finished.**

**I still don't own Eric or Divergent.**

**Chapter 2**

**Gabby's POV**

His trial started the next morning, bright and early, the dark sky just barely touched by the sun's rays. I am sitting in the first row of onlookers when they drag my fiancé in. His wrists are handcuffed behind his back; his brown hair is a dirty mess, hanging in greasy strands over his eyes rather than neatly quaffed back as it should be. Even from here I can tell that that there are dark bags beneath his eyes, I doubt that he slept at all last night.

He is almost unrecognizable as the bright eyed boy I knew growing up Erudite or the strong, intimidating leader I am in love with. The man before me, though he still walks proudly with a defiant look in his eyes, is broken. The Factionless men leading him un-cuff one hand from the other, forcing him to take a seat in a metal dentist chair that has been pulled in from one of the labs, before locking the other cuff in place around the arm of the chair.

Evelyn appears, a vial in one hand and a syringe in the other. She stabs the needle violently through the cap of the vial, pulling back the plunger until the syringe is full. She turns to Eric, never uttering a word as she jabs the needle into his neck and slowly empties its contents into him.

She hands the two objects off to one of her lackeys before turning back to Eric, "Please state your name."

"Eric," He replies simply, his tone cold.

She clears her throat, "Your full name."

"Eric Bartholomew Nelson," He replies without hesitation, an obvious sign that the truth serum has taken effect because he would never have willingly told anyone his middle name.

"Now Mr. Nelson, is it true that you were once a leader of the group formerly known as the Dauntless faction?"

"It is," He growls, still himself despite the serum forcing him to be honest.

Evelyn begins to pace slowly before him, "And is it also true that you betrayed the trust of your people, forcing them to murder members of another faction to further your agenda."

He seems to be fighting the serum now, but to no avail as he slumps down in the chair, "it is."

"Is it true that you were tried for these crimes once before, given a second chance to redeem yourself, an within a week you were back in this very building working once again to further the agenda of Jeanine Matthews?"

Eric's eyes are suddenly filled with a new determination, "No."

Evelyn scoffs loudly, "We have witnesses who saw you bring one of your new faction leaders here, against his will, these same witnesses can attest to the fact that you then tortured him. You were working for Jeanine when this most recent attack took place, were you not?"

Eric takes a deep, "I was, but it was part of Four and I's plan."

"Four devised a plan that involved you torturing him?" Evelyn asks, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly for the group of onlookers.

"That part was my idea, but we had to make it convincing if we were going to get Tris and Gabby out of here," He replies evenly.

"So once again, your actions were ruled by what was best for you. Your loyalty was not to your faction, but to yourself and your own selfish needs."

"You're right," Eric replies slowly, his gaze holding Evelyn's glare.

Her intimidating facade slips for a moment, the Erudite curiosity in her eyes shining, "Oh?"

"You're right, my loyalty was never and is not to Dauntless, Erudite, or to Four Tori and Harrison. My loyalty is and always will be to the only person I can tolerate in this stupid city," He pauses for a moment before amending his statement, "My loyalty is to Gabby and now it is also to our child." There are a few gasps from around the room and I feel a shiver run down my spine. I hadn't considered that this might be how everyone else found out about the baby.

"Regardless, you will and always have, put your needs or the needs of the floozy who follows you blindly, like an innocent little lamb, above the common good."

"Shut up," He growls, "You wouldn't know a thing about loyalty to or believing in someone you care about, you abandoned your son to save yourself, like a coward."

I flinch at his words, knowing that they are true but also acutely aware of the fact the Evelyn's left eye is now twitching. To her credit, she shakes it off relatively quickly, moving on with her interrogation and ignoring his attack.

She shakes her head slowly as she continues to pace, briefly looking up and giving the crowd a forced sad look. "Just because you've made a few good decisions recently, are we all supposed to forget the past, all the innocent lives lost?"

"I don't expect anyone to forget," He looks up for the first time, his gray eyes meeting mine and holding my stare for a moment. I can see the pain, and guilt they hold, "I know I never will." He looks at his accuser once again, a renewed passion housed in the two orbs, "But, I was given a second chance, to be a better man, and I don't feel that I have done anything to deserve the loss of that second chance."

For a moment I think that maybe he can pull this off, the trial has gone much better than I could have hoped for. I glance at Four and give him a small smile, but the troubled look in his eyes tells me that something bad is about to happen.

"Fortunately for the safety of us all, my son's misguided decision to show leniency can be remedied now. The faction system has been dissolved, their ruling no longer stands. You are a war criminal, you have openly acknowledged this fact to be true, and therefore you will be executed alongside your leader."

**Let me know what you thought, your predictions, and feel free to share your ideas. Love you guys!**


	4. Hiatus

I am so sorry for the lack of activity these last few weeks. I have been very sick and it physically pains me to even look at a computer screen, so I am putting TRNT on a temporary hiatus until I can see my neurologist and get my head on straight, literally.


	5. Chapter 3

**Hello again (finally) my beautiful readers! One lost job, a bunch of problems with my eyesight, bottles and bottles of pills, and one very stressed out me later and I'm finally back!**

**I've missed all of you and I am so happy to be writing/posting again. I have been really encouraged by all of the new follows and favorites while I've been gone, so thank you. Also a big thank you to everyone who reviewed chapters 2 and commented after my last author's note:**

**Chapter 2:**

**cheezemac**** – Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I'm hoping for a happy ending myself, if only I could control my brain... ;)**

**Optimistic Pessimist that I am**** – First of all I love your pen name, and second this comment makes me chuckle like a nut every time I reread t.**

**ruwaydahzara**** – Thank you, I'm glad you like it so far. I have thought about writing a Divergent parody but I have so many of my own ideas that I want to write.**

**Cheetocity**** – I know! I never liked Evelyn either. That is a good rebuttal but I figured that she is sort of beyond reason on this issue at this point.**

**hazu23**** – I'm glad you liked the update and feel free to slap her for me. ;)**

**A/N:**

**Cheetocity, ohsodauntless99, Little Flipendo, hazu23**** – thank you for being so supportive and wishing me well**

**Ruwaydah Zara **** – Sorry lol, TRNT = The Road Not Taken and a hiatus is just a break from writing and posting.**

**Rasiel Hasu**** – Thank you! Your comment really brightened my day. I'm glad you like it.**

**Hestia11**** – I think that your paranoia is fairly justified given my track record of killing characters off, but I'll do my best ;)**

**fine55**** – Thank you! I'm glad you like it so far!**

**I still don't own Eric or anything else from the Divergent universe.**

**Chapter 3 **

**Gabby's POV**

I listen to the soft rhythm of the clock on the wall behind me, my thoughts a whirlwind. I glance down at the book in my hands and slowly try to read the first line on the page for what must be the hundredth time, but once again I find me thoughts drifting. My hand moves up from the book, almost involuntarily, landing gently on stomach.

I set the book on the bed next to me, running my other hand absently through my brown and blue curls. I climb off the bed and head into the adjoining bathroom, leaning over the sink to study myself in the mirror. Due to the last couple of months having been spent in captivity my roots are grown out, meaning that the blue streaks start several inches down and have faded ungracefully from their former azure glory. My face has thinned out a quite a bit, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since I did have a bit of left over baby fat around my cheeks, but it makes me look much older. All in all I am almost unrecognizable as the girl I saw in the mirror on the final day of Dauntless initiation.

I continue to stare at my own reflection until I hear the door to the bedroom open behind me. I watch in the mirror as Four walks into the room. He glances at the bed, the disturbed bedding and the book resting on the foot, before looking around curiously.

When his eyes finally meet mine in the mirror I smirk, "Where have you been, I've been waiting forever."

He studies me for a moment before shaking his head and throwing his hands into the air dramatically, "I should ask why the hell you're in my room but at this point I'm too tired to care. I was going to go talk to you anyway, so this saves us some time."

"I wanted to see if you had made any progress with Evelyn, or what our plan is to get Eric out before his execution." I pause for a moment, studying his reaction, "But I'm guessing that Eric wasn't what you wanted to talk to me about."

"No, actually," He starts slowly, "I just came from a meeting to discuss our plan going forward. There's a group of us leaving the city tomorrow, and although you and Alvin have both refused to tell us what's out there, we want you both to come with us."

"Why?" I ask, a bit surprised that he would want a pregnant chick tagging along and a bit perturbed that he would think that I would leave Eric. I feel myself crossing my arms over my chest defensively as I wait for his response.

"When they arrested Eric, it was sort of an unspoken promise that I would look after you." He pauses for a moment before shrugging, "This city is not exactly the safest place right now, and that's for someone who isn't carrying one of the most hated former leader's baby. Plus it doesn't hurt that once we get there, wherever there is, we'll have a couple of insiders."

I take a deep breath before nodding in agreement, "Okay, but," I take my time, drawing out the conjunction, "I'm not leaving this city again without Eric."

**I know, its super short but I want to change the POV for what happens next. Chapter 4 will be longer, I promise.**

*****READ ME*** - For anyone who is interested, I wrote a short crack one-shot about Gabby and Eric a while back that takes place during The Distance around the second stage of initiation that I have decided to post, it will be going up right after this chapter if you want to check it out. It's ridiculous but I thought I should share my OOC Eric with the world. **

**As always, shoot me a review if you have a moment and let me know what you think. (Plus, I can always use ideas/suggestions)**


	6. Chapter 3 and a half

**I just found this and realized that I forgot to add it to the end of chapter 3 when I posted it. So here it is now, I added it as a new chapter so that people wouldn't miss it. **

**I'm editing chapter Tobias (4... sorry, bad pun) as we speak so it should be up within the next hour or two. **

**Chapter 3.5**

**Gabby's POV**

Early the next morning I find myself walking the halls of the Erudite living quarters, before I know it I am outside the door to my parents apartment. I knock softly, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. Andrew answers, his hair disheveled and his eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Gabriella? Is something wrong?" He asks through a yawn. I have been free from captivity for almost two weeks but I have only seen my mother and Andrew very briefly. My father, as a close associate of Jeanine's is still awaiting trial, but I can't imagine that he would have had anything to do with the attack on Abnegation.

"No, I'm alright. Can I come in?" I ask, suddenly feeling very out of place in what was my home for the first sixteen years of my life.

He quickly moves out of the way, allowing me to walk inside before gently closing the door behind me. "I'm sorry about Eric…" He trails off, clearly unsure of what to say.

I take a deep breath and nod sadly, I hate keeping things from my brother but I can't risk being overheard. It's better for my family this way too; better if they don't know what is about to happen in case anyone questions them once we are gone. I can't seem to meet his questioning gaze so I look away, studying the apartment around me. The rooms that once felt so large now feel small, cramped. The walls that were always bright white seem almost grey. This isn't my home anymore.

My thoughts are interrupted by my mother's voice, "Gabriella? What is going on?"

I feel my eyes beginning to well up, but I can't fall apart now. "Nothing, I just came by to see you two." I watch my mother for a few moments before closing the gap between us; I fling my arms around her and bury my face in her neck. I don't care that showing emotion is not a typical Erudite response, and I don't expect her to reciprocate, but I need her to know before I leave , "I love you, mom."

"Gabriella?" She asks softly, "You are behaving rather strangely."

If I wasn't falling apart emotionally, I might laugh at how Candor she can still be after all these years of living as an Erudite. I pull away, rubbing my eyes, "Nothing, I just…"

I trail off, but I can see it in her eyes that she has at least some idea of what is going on. She nods slowly and for a moment I think I see tears in her blue eyes. Finally, she shakes her head and glances at the clock, "Oh my, I'm due to start my shift at the hospital soon, I trust you can let your sister out, Andrew."

Andrew nods and I watch my mother walk away, and for the first time I have some idea of what she might have felt watching me leave with the Dauntless at my choosing ceremony. I turn back to Andrew and wrap my arms around him.

After a couple of seconds he hugs me back, "Why does this feel like you're saying goodbye?" I can't bring myself to respond but I think that my silence is answer enough.

I finally let go and take a step back, "I love you Andrew."

He nods, "I love you too."

I take a step toward the door, "Take care of yourself." I try to take another step, but feet refuse to move, I feel my hands start to shake. "Make sure mom doesn't overwork herself," I add, my voice beginning to crack. "You know how she- how she gets…"

Andrew cuts me off, pulling me back into his arms, "It's going to be okay."

Those five words seem to simultaneously build me up and break me all at the same time. I nod, he releases me and I start for the door. I pause with my hand on the knob, part of me feels like I should say goodbye, but I can't. Saying goodbye just seems too final, like I am committing to the possibility that I will never see him again.

"I'll see you around," I add without looking back. I don't stay to hear if he replies, if I don't go now I never will. I walk through the door, shutting it softly behind me. I lean against the wall for a moment, trying to will away the tears, before heading toward the elevator.


	7. Chapter 4

**Hello again everyone! I hope you are all having a better week than I am; I hurt my back and can barely walk. Ugh, but at least it's given me extra time to write. If you didn't already notice, I uploaded another short chapter tonight before this, so check it out.**

**Thank you to all of my new readers, followers, and favoritors.**

**mariihamadeh**** – thank you, I hope you like the new chapter too :D**

**ruwaydahzara**** – That sounds horrible! I have a problem when it comes to buying books; I have stacks of them everywhere around my apartment. I'm sorry I took forever to come back but I hope you like my new chapters too. Thanks for the virtual cookies ;)**

**catch39**** – I enjoyed reading your reviews as you read through The Distance and now this story. I'm glad you liked the one-shot! Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy the series :D**

**Chapter 4**

**Eric's POV**

I am sitting alone in my cell when I hear them come for me. By this point quite a few prisoners have been exonerated, which means that they have spread the few still awaiting trial and those of us who were found guilty out a bit more.

I have thought about my death many times since I defected from Erudite two and a half years ago. I have imagined falling to my death, a miscalculated jump off the train or a snapped cable on the way down the zip line. Other times it has been a bullet that ends my life or perhaps a disgruntled factionless with a knife. I could have been satisfied with any of those options, but death by lethal injection, there was no bravery in that.

I take a deep breath, as I listen to the door being unlocked. The image of Gidget pops into my mind, her curly brown hair falling in front of her blue eyes. For the entire year that I thought she was dead, I had been ready to die. I had nothing and no one to live for, but I had lived, and now that I had so much to live for, I was going to die. The irony of it all was almost laughable.

When the door finally opens, it is not Evelyn and her goons before me, it is Four. He approaches me slowly, pulling a plastic zip tie out of his pocket when he's almost to me. I watch him closely, studying his body language and expression for a moment. "Four, how can I help you today?" I ask dryly, resting both of my hands behind my head and leaning back in my chair. "I'd offer you a drink but I'm fresh out."

He stares at me for a moment with his usual mask of indifference before motioning for me to stand up. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your execution has been moved up." He pauses, studying me strangely for a moment before continuing, "Out of respect for Gabby, I've talked Evelyn into a private execution so that she doesn't have to see you die."

At first I thought that it was all in my head, but something is definitely off with the way that he is talking and looking at me. I have a feeling that I know what is going on, but I would rather mentally prepare myself to be lead to my execution and be pleasantly surprised than put all my hope in this feeling that something is off. I finally nod my head, "I appreciate that."

I stand slowly, not resisting as he pulls my hands behind my back and tightens the tie until I can feel it digging into my flesh. Once he has finished he shoves me forward so that I stumble into the hallway. He walks out and pulls me up, nodding to the guard down the hall. He shoves me forward again, although not forcefully enough to knock me down. "Move it brainiac," He orders, mimicking my command when I 'turned him in' when Jeanine had Gabby and Tris.

"I'm glad to see one of us is enjoying this situation," I growl quietly as I start walking down the hall.

We have only made it a few doors down when he grabs my shoulder to stop me from continuing down the hall. He turns and unlocks the closest door, shooting a warning look in my direction before entering the room.

I roll my eyes at the back of Four's head before leaning against the wall next to the doorway. I'm still holding out hope that Four is breaking me out and not actually walking me to my death, but even if I wasn't there are almost no scenarios where trying to make a run for it would do me any good. With my hands tied behind my back, I would most likely either I get myself shot for running or I fall flat on my face like an idiot, both outcomes making me look like a scared coward. Even if I did manage to get away, there was still the possibility that they might hurt Gabby to try and find out where I went.

Up until now I had tuned out the conversation going on inside the cell, but when one of the parties raises their voice it peaks my interest.

"No! No, I have a few weeks, it's not tonight, no-"

It takes me a moment to place the voice, but after a moment I realize that it as Caleb Prior, the Stiff's brother and one of Jeanine's minions who helped with the experiments on Gabby and our baby. I hear Four mumble something and then there is silence for a few seconds.

I feel a smirk overtake my face as I inch closer to the door, this idiot is going to try to run. My suspicions are confirmed moments later when I hear the sound of someone being hit with what sounds like a small piece of furniture, followed by an irritated growl from Four. I stick my leg out just in time to trip Caleb and send him flying face first onto the floor.

Four joins us in the hall moments later, quickly binding Prior's hands behind his back. He pulls him up and I notice with some satisfaction that his nose is bleeding. Four then leads the way to the emergency exit at the far end of the hall, dragging the Erudite with him. Once we have reached the bottom of the stairwell he knocks on the door that opens up to the alley.

Zeke opens it quickly, a smile lighting up his dark features, "No trouble with the guard?" Four shakes his head and Zeke continues, "I figured Drea would be easy to get by, she doesn't care about anything."

"It seemed like she had looked the other way before," Four replies thoughtfully.

"That doesn't surprise me," Zeke agrees before glancing behind his friend, noticing me for the first time. "Eric," He greets me with a quick head nod before turning his attention to Four's other captive, "This Prior?"

"In the flesh," Eaton replies dryly.

"Why's he bleeding?"

"Because he's an idiot," Four answers earning an annoyed look from Caleb.

Zeke hands Four a jacket with the factionless band around the sleeve, "I didn't know that idiocy caused people to just start spontaneously bleeding from the nose."

Four begins fastening the jacket around Caleb's shoulders while Zeke comes up behind me, slitting the plastic band that had been binding my hands together. "I think it's a new phenomenon," Four responds as he finishes buttoning the jacket. "The alley's clear?"

"Made sure of it," Zeke replies while he fishes around in his pocket for an armband, which I quickly pull up my arm, over my sleeve. He hands me his hat before looking between Four and I. "Now if one of will hit me, it will be more convincing when I tell the Factionless that you stole this from me." With that he produces his gun and hands it handle first to Four.

"You want me to hit you," Four asks warily.

"I'd be happy to," I add with a smirk, flexing my hand a couple of times before balling it into a fist. The look on Zeke's face shows that he immediately regretted giving me the chance, but he braces for me to punch him none the less. I aim for his jaw and swing, causing him to stumble back a step or too.

He groans and holds his face with both hands while I shake my hand out; to his credit he's got a pretty solid jaw. "You didn't have to enjoy that so much," He complains and it isn't until then that I realize that I am smirking. After a moment he turns his attention back to Four, "Well, I guess that's it."

"Guess so," Four replies, studying a rock near his foot for a moment before kicking it away.

"I probably won't be seeing you again, will I? I mean, I know the others might come back, but you…" Zeke trails off and I find my mind wondering off as well.

The way they are talking, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what is going on. There must be a group of us leaving the city, and if they are taking me along it means that Gidget is one of them. Although I was in my cell when it was played, I had overheard some of the guards talking about the 'Edith Prior video' and I was sure that they were anxious to figure out what was out there.

It hits me when the two friends hug that this might be it, we might be leaving for good, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Part of me can't imagine life outside of these walls, this is my home after all, but an even larger part of me is all too ready to leave and never look back. To go find a place somewhere out there where no one remembers me as a cold leader of the Dauntless, where no one flinches or looks away when I walk by, and no one want's me dead for the horrible things I've done.

The pair breaks apart and Four starts down the alley, "I'll miss you," he calls over his shoulder.

"You too, sweetie!" Zeke calls with a smirk before turning to me. "I would say I'll miss you but we both now that would be a lie," He says, the smirk still lighting up his eyes.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Pedrad," I reply.

He reaches out his hand, waiting for me to shake it, "But, I will admit that you're less of a tool than I thought." I take his and shake it briefly before turning to catch up with Four and Caleb. Once I have caught up with them, Four begins sprinting toward the train, dragging the Abnegation turned Erudite behind him.

"You're going somewhere," Caleb says between labored breaths as he attempts to keep up with Four and I, "You two and some others."

"Wow, you're good, what tipped you off?" I ask sarcastically over my shoulder.

He ignores me and continues, "Is my sister going?"

This earns the younger boy a smack to the side of his head from Four, which causes me to let out an amused snort. He winces and tries to brace for another blow while still running to keep up.

After a moment Four opens his mouth again, "She is not your sister. You betrayed her, tortured her, took away the only family she had left, and for what? Because you wanted to keep Jeanine's secrets, wanted to stay in the city, safe and sound?" These last words are dripping with venom, and he pauses for a moment as if he is trying to calm down, but when he speaks again his words are still equally biting. "You are a coward."

"I am not a coward! I knew if-" Caleb tries to defend himself.

"Let's just go back to the arrangement where you keep your mouth closed," Four orders.

"Agreed," I put in, before adding, "But by all means keep talking, I'd love an excuse to break more than just your nose."

He shuts up for a block or two, but then seems to forget what's good for him and begins talking again, "Where are you taking me, anyway? You can kill me just as easily here, can't you?"

I open my mouth to reply but I see Four freeze out of the corner of my eye. I stop, following his line of vision to an alley behind us. I glance around, looking for any other signs of trouble but everything seems calm. After a moment we start walking again, both of us on edge.

When we come to the train station we climb the stairs that lead to the platform, Four in front, dragging Caleb behind him, and me at the back glancing behind me every so often to see if it looks like someone is still following. Once we reach the platform I can see the train coming, a familiar sense of exhilaration courses through my body and find myself sifting back and forth as I wait. I forgot how much I love the feeling of adrenaline coursing through my veins when I'm getting ready to jump onto the train; I have missed it during the last 3 months I've spent cooped up at Erudite.

Once the train is close Four frees Caleb from his zip-tie, motioning toward the oncoming engine he asks, "You know what to do, right?" Caleb nods and he adds, "Get in the last car.

Caleb unbuttons the jacket and lets it fall to the ground. He begins running first, with four right behind him. I leave a little room between us and then start running. Caleb gets to the handle but hesitates, so Four shoves him forward and someone pulls him in. Then Four jumps, grabbing the handle and swinging in. It's going to be a little close but I've done this enough times not to panic, I jump and grab the handle, just as it passes the edge of the platform. I hang there for a moment, letting out a hysterical laugh; god I've missed that feeling. I take deep breath of fresh air before swinging myself the rest of the way into the car.

I almost run into Tris and Four once I get inside, but I manage to maneuver around the lip-locked pair. "Get a room," I mumble as I move past them.

"Eric!" I hear my fiancé sing excitedly at the same moment that I feel her hand grab mine. I let her turn me around and she immediately wraps her arms around my torso. After a moment she pulls away, her eyes brimming with tears. "Hi," She adds after a moment with a nervous chuckle.

"Hi," I reply, smiling down at her.

"Is this what you had planned?" Caleb's shrill voice cuts our reunion short, "For Beatrice to be here when you kill me? That's-"

His outrage s interrupted by a confused Tris, "Kill him?"

I wrap my arm around Gabby's shoulders as I fight back a smirk, "You know, for an Erudite you're kind of an idiot." She elbows me in the side but I can tell that she smiling.

"Yeah, I let him think he was being taken to his execution," Four explains loud enough for everyone to hear.

I watch Caleb's expression through the dimly lit car for a few seconds as he processes this information, "I… It isn't true?"

"No, I just saved your life, actually," Four replies.

He opens his mouth to reply but jump in, "I'd wait to thank him until someone finishes filling you in."

He looks to his sister for an explanation but it is Four who replies, "We're taking you with us, outside the fence." It's obvious that he is scared but no one in the car cares enough to feel sorry for him after all he's done.

After a moment of silence Four and Tris move to the far door, each grabbing a handle and talking in hushed tones. Caleb moves to one corner and stays quiet for the remainder of the journey.

Gabby leads me to the opposite side of the car from Caleb, I sit in the corner and she leans against me. After a minute or so of silence I wrap my arm around her and she rests her head on my shoulder.

"Did you have trouble getting out of Erudite?" She asks softly.

"Getting out was easy, it was getting to the train that has me worried, I'm fairly certain that someone was following us." She nods and we fall into a comfortable silence. I find myself thinking again about the possibility of a fresh start outside of the city. "I think leaving will be good for us."

"Yeah," She replies halfheartedly and I wonder once again what's out there. I know that Gabby knows, but I have never pressured her to tell me. I can also tell from the sad, distant look in her eyes that she is thinking about her family.

"Maybe we can come back someday, when this has all blown over," I try, but I know that neither of us actually believes that.

We are both silent again, lost in our own thoughts. She is so quiet that I think she might be asleep until she laces her fingers together with mine. "As long as I have you, we can make anywhere home," She says softly into my neck,

**Let me know what you thought of the chapter and any suggestions you might have for future chapters.**

**Thank you all once again for taking the time to read my story, I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 5

**Hello again my lovely readers! Not much is new, except for a dislocated hip and the overwhelming urge to start a new multi-chapter Eric centric story. Question: would anyone be interested in reading my take on Eric and Four's initiation? I'm going to write it either way, but it might get priority status in the Divergent story ideas folder if it looks like people would be interested in it.**

**As always, thank you to these lovely people for reviewing and making my day.**

**ruwaydahzara**** – Thank you, I enjoyed writing Caleb getting hit repeatedly! He does deserve it and it is a nice way to quench my desire to smack people in my real life. ;) I really love that idea! I will definitely have to see if I can work it in somewhere because the idea of Eric trying to have a normal friend to friend conversation about girls and relationships with Four is absolutely spectacular.**

**catch39**** – Thank you :D I always enjoy writing him when he is being snarky and sarcastic.**

**Cheetocity**** – I'm glad you liked the fluffy ending, I love writing them when they are alone and he doesn't feel the need to put up a front. I can't make promises about who will and will not die, I mean what's the fun in that? Well, fun for me anyway. ;) I know exactly what you mean about late night reading. For me it's more of a problem when I write/plan/brainstorm late at night, It's like after the clock strikes twelve I turn into a fictional character serial killer…**

**I still haven't managed to negotiate the purchase of Eric from Veronica Roth, she still owns the Divergent books and her characters.**

**Chapter 5**

**Gabby's POV**

I can feel the train beginning to slow, the brakes squealing as they fight to halt the massive vehicle's movement. Eric stands slowly before turning to help me up, the train slowing means that we are almost to the fence and we'll need to get off soon. I walk over to the open doors closest to us, watching for a moment as the setting sun reflects off of the windows of the buildings in the distance.

Once we get a little closer to the fence I turn and come to stand with Eric behind Tris and Four. I watch as Four pushes Caleb toward the door, "You're first. On my mark" He positions his and behind the young Erudite before shouting "And go!" at the same time that he shoves him forward.

Caleb disappears from view, quickly followed by Four and Tris. Eric glances at me, silently asking me if I want to go first. I smile at him sadly and he nods, having known me long enough to understand what I want without me uttering a single word. He jumps, disappearing from view. I turn, looking over my shoulder out the other door of the train. I glance down at the tattoo on my hand, the gears that Andrew had doodled on the note he gave me on the day I chose Dauntless.

"Goodbye," I hear myself whisper the word I couldn't find the courage to say this morning. I blink back the tears and jump.

Something is different about this jump. My heart is hammering away in my chest like it usually does. That brief moment of panic before my feet touch the ground again is there as always. But there is a sense of finality to it all. It's like reaching the end of a chapter in a book, when you pause for the briefest of moments before moving on. That chapter is over now, it's time to start the next one.

I managed to land in a crouched position, hopefully not jostling the baby too much. I turn to look back down the tracks where the others would have landed, searching for Eric in the dim light. I see a flashlight flick on behind me, the beam of light shining past me. I look over my shoulder and see Alvin walking my way, a flashlight in one hand and his backpack in the other.

"Bet you'll be happy to be home again soon," I say, lowering my voice so that only he will hear me.

"Mildly," He replies with a smirk, "Glad to not be sharing a room with you and three other people anymore, but not excited about the lecture I'm sure David has in store for me." I chuck, about to reply when I catch sight of Eric walking my way, a group of others behind him.

"Dauntless have the weirdest slang. Pansycake, Nose … is there a tem for the Candor?" Christina asks as they reach us.

Uriah grins, "Of course. Jerks." Christina shoves him, sending his flashlight tumbling to the ground.

Four laughs and I catch a glimpse of a genuine smile on Eric's face that I haven't seen when we are around other people in a very long time. Still smiling, Four leads the group forward and I fall in line next to Eric, lacing my fingers together with his.

Once we have caught up, Tori waves her flashlight in the air to get everyone's attention. Her eyes meet mine for a moment and I catch a flash of excitement in her dark orbs. She may not know exactly what we are walking into, but she does know that she will see her brother soon.

"All right, Johanna and the trucks will be about a ten minute walk from here, so let's get going." She calls before glancing threateningly at the group, "And if I hear a word from anyone, I will beat you senseless. We're not out yet."

She turns around and takes a step forward. I happen to look up at Eric just in time to see him smirk before he lets out a sarcastic, "Yes, ma'am."

I smack his arm, but I can't help but smirk too, no matter how hard I try to hide it. Seeing Eric in a good mood like this is rare these days and it makes me feel normal for the first time in a long time.

Tori looks back over her shoulder, shooting Eric a warning look before continuing to lead the group forward. As we walk, I watch as everyone else's flashlights dancing on Tori's back. She begins to quicken her pace, slowly at first and then finally breaking into a jog. She is anxious to finally get to see George again.

I am about to tug on Eric's hand to get him to jog with me to catch up to her when I hear the first shot echo through the open field. It is as if things begin happening in slow motion, I watch helplessly as her flashlight falls to the ground. I vaguely register the gasps and cries of the others, but the combined booming voices of Four and Eric yelling "Split up!" in nearly perfect unison pulls me back to reality.

My free hand reaches for the gun tucked into my waistband as we run, I finally get it free just as we reach Tori's fallen body. Tris is crouched next to her already, holding a gun and Tori's flashlight. I yank on Eric's arm to slow him, handing him the gun and falling to my knees beside her in one fluid movement.

I hear footsteps signaling that someone is approaching, Tris stands, but I can't seem to. My eyes scan Tori's body, catching sight of two entry wounds. One in her stomach, which she is clutching ineffectively as blood is squirting out between her fingers, and one in her chest. She is so still that I think she is already gone until her eyes flicker open, finding mine.

"Tell him," She manages to whisper, "I'm so sorry."

I want to lie to her and tell her that she can tell George herself soon, but I know Tori well enough to know that she doesn't want to be patronized. "I will," I manage, "I'm sure he knows you would have done anything to see him again." She nods slowly before staring up at the now dark sky blankly. I watch as the light leaves her eyes, her hand falling limply at her side. I hear two gun shots that sound like they are coming from right above me, Eric and Tris, followed by a third that sounds like it is coming from a few feet away.

"We need to move, Gidg," I hear Eric call in his instructor voice. I stand slowly, my eyes landing on a fallen factionless a few feet away, a bullet wound in her stomach and one in her shoulder. I don't have time to process as Eric grabs my hand and begins running again.

My legs begin to burn, the lack of exercise these last few weeks showing as my lungs begin to ache and my throat begins to feel tight. I want to stop, but I know that they'll kill as if they catch us so I keep running. I've lost so much today, I can't let them take Eric or our baby from me too, so I tighten my hold on Eric's hand and try to ignore the pain

I catch sight of two flashlight beams dancing in the distance, Eric sees them too because he slows his pace. He raises the gun as they draw closer, finally stopping and pushing me behind him. I find myself wishing I had a gun too, I hate this feeling of helplessness as I watch the lights approach from over his shoulder.

As the lights come closer I realize that they aren't two flashlights, they are the headlights of a truck. Neither Eric nor I have a flashlight to shine on the truck so that we can see who is coming, so I stand behind him, unable to breathe as I wait for it to reach us.

"Who's there?" I hear a male voice demand as the truck comes to a stop. I can finally breathe again, despite the fact that there are most likely at least a two guns trained on us.

I gently squeeze Eric's shoulder before stepping around him into the beam of the headlight, "It's us, Alvin."

I grab Eric's hand again once he has the gun put away, walking around with him to the back of the truck. He climbs in first and then turns to pull me up. Once we are both in I notice that we are not alone in the bed of the truck. I creep forward as the truck begins to roll onward, until my eyes finally making out Four's features in the dark. It takes me another beat to realize that there is dark liquid coating his left arm.

"Oh god, Four. Let me take a look." I say quietly, reaching out to grab his arm when he doesn't offer it willingly.

He doesn't argue with me about fussing over his arm, he just glances between Eric and I for a moment before asking, "Have you seen Tris?"

I nod, only now seeming to realize that she wasn't with us anymore. Eric clears his throat, "We saw her right after the first shots were fired, but we split up again." Four nods and we dissolve into a tense silence, each left to our own thoughts.

"Tori's dead," I hear myself murmur into the darkness as I finish looking his arm over. I am not even sure that they heard me, but I was saying it more for my own benefit than theirs. Four's arm isn't seriously damaged, it was just a graze thankfully.

Four opens his mouth to say something but then we catch sight of a few specks of light in the distance and he closes it again. When the truck jerks to a halt I stand up to see who is ahead of us. In the light of their flash lights I make out the faces of Peter, Jeff, Uriah, and Cara.

I climb down from the tail gate and jog over to Jeff, after what happened to Jess I couldn't have handled losing him too. I pull him into a hug before turning to pull Uriah into the hug too, just for good measure. I take a deep breath as I pull away, relief flooding over me.

I hear the sound of the truck door opening and glance over my shoulder to watch the others climb out of the truck. Alvin and Caleb exit the cab, leaving a rather shaken looking Amity boy behind the wheel. Eric and Four climb down from the bed, and Cara immediately goes to help Four. Alvin stays near the hood of the truck, talking to Cara as she tends to Four's arm.

Caleb Joins Peter sitting in the grass, and Eric makes his way over to me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and I smile up at him, "Well that was more excitement than I needed."

Jeff nods in agreement, a small smile finding his mouth but never reaching his blue eyes. He hasn't smiled much since Jess died. I knew that the two were close, especially after Carl abandoned her and defected to Erudite. As much as I'm feeling her loss I knew that he has to be in at least as much pain, if not more, but he hasn't had as much to keep him busy as I have.

I am still studying him when I catch sight of another set of headlight's coming our way. "Four," I call over my shoulder, knowing that if Tris is still alive she is probably in the other truck. Sure enough, before it has even fully stopped, Tris emerges from the cab and runs for Four's waiting arm.

As soon Four's injured arm has been tended to, we climb back into the trucks. Four and Tris are in the cab of the front truck, driven by Johanna. Uriah, Christina, and Caleb are in the bed. Eric, Jeff, Peter, and I are in the bed of the second truck, with Alvin and Cara in the cab.

I watch in the beams of the headlights as the greenhouses and Amity fields are replaced by patches of old cracked sidewalk and collapsed buildings. The light catches a sign with a big black X on it on our left, as we pass I see another sign like it on our right.

"What are those for?" Peter asks quietly, his voice barely audible over the wind.

Eric doesn't turn to look at him, he keeps watching the scenery pass by, "They mark the city limit. No one, not even the Dauntless security patrols, were allowed past them."

"Jess," Jeff starts before pausing to clear his throat, "She ended up guarding the fence because she came in last in our initiate class. She told me after her first day that they even have camera's set up at the limit to make sure that the patrol's don't go past."

"There's no going back now," Eric adds absently before a tense silence overtakes the truck bed once again. It occurs to me that this is farther out of the city than any of the rest of them have ever been. I got used to the idea of being in this completely different world that exists outside of ours during the year I spent at the Bureau, but this is all new for the rest of them.

I rest my head on Eric's shoulder, watching as the buildings and roads of the world beyond the experiment come into view. Everyone is completely still now, no one speaks, they just watch the buildings multiply.

The trucks stop once we reach a set of train tracks, and as I climb down from the bed I find myself worrying for the first time about how the Bureau will react to my return. A few goodbyes are exchanged and then the two Amity get back in the trucks and head back toward the city.

We begin walking, mostly in silence except for observations here and there about signs or interesting buildings, usually made by current or former Erudites. I am surprised that no one has started asking Alvin or I questions yet, but they'll find out soon enough since I'm sure that a patrol has already been sent to pick us up.

I haven't let go of Eric's hand since he helped me from the truck bed, and my grip tightens when I hear the sound of engines approaching. At Tris' instruction everyone stops walking and moves closer in together, guns drawn. I glance up at him, he is staring back at me, his eyes asking me if he should be concerned. I take a deep breath and try to smile at him reassuringly as the black truck comes into view.

**We have finally made to The Bureau! Well, almost. Let me know what you thought! I always love hearing from you guys and hearing what you think will happen/what you want to happen.**

**I had a very difficult time deciding what Tori's fate would be in this story/au. Part of me wanted to save her because, although she was never one of my favorite characters, it broke my heart when I read the books that she died before she got to see her brother again. It was a tough choice and once I made my decision, my music playlist was trying to break me.**

**I'm writing the bit leading up to Tori getting shot and the song Coffins by MisterWives starts playing: (It's one of my favorite songs, if you haven't heard it I highly recommend you give it a listen)**

_**How do you soften  
The thought of carrying coffins?  
We were so alive  
Only to see us wither and die**_

**And then, I'm trying to write Gabby getting up once she (Tori) is dead, and what does it start playing? Ghost of You by My Chemical Romance:**

_**At the end of the world  
Or the last thing I see  
You are  
Never coming home  
Never coming home**_

**Long story short, I need less depressing music.**


	9. Chapter 6

**Hello once again my lovely readers! Have you guys already seen Insurgent? If so what did you think?**

**I'm going on Friday, even though I know that it is going to make me mad when they get stuff wrong/change stuff and that one scene in particular is going to rip my heart out. (You all know how much I freaking love Eric, although I don't always approve of his actions, so I'm sure you know what scene I mean) Why must I always love the villain? **

**As always, thank you to everyone who follows and reads. Special thanks to these lovely people who reviewed chapter 5 and made me smile:**

**BK2U**** – That is a good point, he may not have done anything directly to him, but his presence did put Amar in danger. Since I have already changed the backstory of Amar's "death" from Veronica's version (in The Distance) I will probably do a flashback to what actually happened in my version of events. **

**catch39 – Yeah, I don't think either of them really thought far enough ahead to worry about what would happen if they came back…**

**Cheetocity – Glad you liked the chapter :D I have it mostly planned out, I'm pretty happy with the route I chose. Hopefully, you guys will like it too. **

**I still don't own Eric, any of Veronica's other characters, or the Divergent world. **

**Chapter 6**

**Eric's POV**

I watch as Gabby shoots me a vaguely reassuring smile before turning back to watch the black dot come toward us. I don't take my eyes off of her, even when I hear the sound of a large vehicle coming to a stop in front of us, it is actually Four who brings me back to reality.

"God," I hear him say, almost under his breath.

When I finally look away from Gabby the black dot has become a large black truck. There is a woman climbing down from the passenger seat, and a man in the driver's seat. The man bears a striking resemblance to my initiation instructor, but he's been dead for over two years, so that can't be him.

The woman approaches slowly with her hands in the air, an appropriate response since there are several guns trained on her. "Hello," she greats us nervously, offering a small smile.

I turn back to Gidget, eyebrows raised questioningly. She swallows apprehensively, her blue orbs scanning my expression yet somehow still managing to avoid my eyes. "I'm sorry, I should…" She begins, but is cut off be Alvin's deep voice as he steps forward.

"It's alright everyone," He says calmly as he makes his way to the front of the group, although this doesn't actually seem to calm anyone down. "This is Zoe," He says, gesturing to the woman before motioning toward the driver as he climbs out of the cab, "That's Amar."

My eyes immediately flash back to my fiancé's, looking for some sort of confirmation although I am already certain that it is true. She nods slowly, and it all begins to click. When I first saw her again, in the Merciless Mart after Tris stabbed me, she told me that people were watching us who were interested in the Divergent population of our city. They took her, to protect her from Jeanine. It makes sense that she wouldn't have been the only one they took.

"I told you," I find myself half shouting at Four, before looking back at Gabby although I know that she already knew, "I freaking told you I didn't kill him. Do you believe me now, Stiff?"

"No," Four replies flatly, his head shaking and eyes wide with something between shock and terror, "Amar is dead."

"No, I'm not." Amar responds calmly, "Come on, Four, It's me."

"Four, what other explanation is there? He looks like him, sounds like him, maybe it is him." Uriah puts in, he's been uncharacteristically quiet since the car appeared, I had nearly forgotten that he was with us.

"We work for the same organization that founded your city," Zoe informs us, shooting Amar a glare, "The same organization that Edith Prior came from. And…" She pauses for a moment to retrieve something from her pocket, at first I think that it is just a scrap of paper but as she holds it out I can see that it is a photograph. She studies us all for a moment before looking at Tris, "I think you should look at this, Tris. I'll step forward and leave it on the ground, then back up. All right?"

Tris is obviously off put by the fact that this strange woman knows her name, when she speaks her voice is barely audible, "All right."

I look back at Gabby while the exchange happens, silently mouthing the words "What is it?" Her eyebrows are scrunched up the way they do when she is confused or concentrating on something. She replies by shrugging her shoulders before looking back to where Tris is now studying the photo.

After a moment Tris' expression morphs into one of shock. Sensing this, Zoe speaks up again, "There is a lot to explain, but this isn't really the best place to do it. We'd like to take you to our headquarters. It's a short drive from here."

Four looks from the older woman down to the picture in Tris' hand. He studies it for a moment before a flash of realization crosses his features, "That's your mother?"

"It's Mom?" Caleb asks as he shoves Four out of the way so that he can see the photograph.

"Yes." Tris answers simply without looking away from the picture.

Four looks at Tris for a moment before looking over his shoulder at Gabby, "Can we trust them?"

"Yes," She responds with a nod before lowering her voice and adding, "As much as we can trust any form of leadership at this point."

"If we go with you, we can leave anytime we want?" Christina asks as she and the others finally lower their firearms.

"You have my word," Zoe replies, hand over her heart. I glance over at Gabby and it doesn't take much to see the worry in her eyes. It took her a year to get back to the city after they took her, so clearly leaving anytime isn't actually an option.

We follow the others to the back of the truck, all except for Alvin who Zoe 'asked' to sit in the cab with her and Amar. Two long bench seats line either side of the bed and there is a frame built on top which is covered in canvas, creating a roof and walls of sorts.

Amar walks with us and waits at the back of the truck to make sure that everyone gets in okay. As she is about to climb in, Gabby pauses and asks him something, her voice too low for me to hear.

"He's out on patrol, why?" He answers, his voice a little louder than hers.

She takes a deep breath before shaking her head, "I need to give him a message."

Most of the others sit or stand near the back, but Gabby leads me to the front, directly behind the cab. She sits down next to me on the bench running along the left side of the truck, resting her head on my shoulder. We pass most of the ride in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

We have been driving for about ten minutes when Gabby lifts her head up and turns to look at me, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Amar, everything's been so crazy since I got back."

"I wouldn't have minded a heads up," I reply with a shrug, putting my arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. I glance toward the other end of the truck bed where Four is sitting with his head in his hands, "At least I'm taking it better than he is."

She takes a deep breath before resting her head back on my shoulder, "It's going to be a rough day for everyone, judging by how they've all handled it so far."

The Truck rolls to a stop and I can hear Amar's voice talking to someone, after a moment there is a buzzing noise followed by the sound of something dragging on the ground, a gate probably. The truck begins moving again, the ground below us must be much smoother now because I don't feel like I am being tossed around as much.

When the truck comes to a stop again Gabby stands up and gives me a nervous smile, "We're here."

"Where exactly is 'here'?" Cara asks as she stands, looking past the others to the world outside of the truck.

"The Bureau of Genetic Welfare," Gabby replies simply before looking back at me and inclining her head toward the exit.

We follow the others out of the covered truck bed, the ten of us all coming to stand in a tight line in front of a huge building. It isn't tall like the buildings in our city, but it is wide and I imagine rather long from the look of it.

"Here we go," Tris mumbles as Zoe, Amar, and Alvin come toward us.

"Welcome to the compound," Zoe announces when they reach us. Amar and Alvin, who looks a bit like a puppy who has just been smacked on the nose, come to a stop behind her and she continues. "This building used to be the O'Hare Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country. Now it's the headquarters of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, or just the Bureau as we call it around here. It's an agency of the United States government."

I scrunch my eyebrows together in confusion. The others seem to be struggling to understand most of what she is saying too, when I glance down the line they are sharing confused looks. I feel like a child again, trying to understand what an adult is saying when most of the words they are using are above my learning level. I half expect her to tell me to go look the words up if I ask what they mean, like my father would when I was young.

"Okay, can we get that one more time, but in English?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.

"Sorry," Zoe replies, "I keep forgetting how little you know."

I open my mouth to reply but Peter beats me to it. "I believe it's _your_ fault if we don't know anything, not ours," He retorts, shooting her an annoyed look.

"I should rephrase." She gives us all a small smile that is much more patronizing than sweet, "I keep forgetting how little information we provided you with. An airport is a hub for air travel, and…"

She is cut off by Christina, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, "_Air travel_?"

"One of the many technological developments that we weren't told about," Gabby answers in a tired voice, I haven't noticed until now how exhausted she looks. She moves her weight back and forth, from her right foot to her left, her hand resting absent-mindedly on her stomach.

Amar shifts uncomfortably for a moment before amending Gabby's explanation, "Technological developments that weren't necessary for us to know about when we were inside the city. It's safe, fast and amazing."

There are a few excited murmurings from the others before Zoe speaks up again and silences them, "Anyway. When the experiments were first developed, the airport was converted into this compound so that we could monitor the experiments from a distance." She pauses for a moment as her words sink in. _Experiments? These people founded our city, so what were we? Lab rats running around in a maze?_

After a moment she continues, "I'm going to walk you to the control room to meet David, the leader of the Bureau. You will see a lot of things you don't understand, but it may be best to get some preliminary explanations before you start asking me about them. So take note of the things you want to learn about, and feel free to ask Amar, Alvin, Gabby, or I later."

She starts toward the entrance and two guards, one on either side of the double doors, pull the doors open for us. Gabby grabs my hand again as we start walking, we end up in front of the group this time.

A blast of cool air greets us as soon as we walk through the doorway. The room is bathed in a dim light from the windows that arch above us, but other than that the room inside reminds me of the Abnegation sector. The walls are gray and boring, the floors dingy.

Ahead of us is a line of machinery and people, the sign above labeling it the security checkpoint. "Weapons are not allowed inside this facility, but if you leave them at the security checkpoint you can pick them up as you exit, if you choose to do so." Zoe announces as we approach the row of machines. I shoot Gabby a concerned glance, after being in Dauntless for two years I feel uneasy without a weapon of some sort nearby, especially when I am around people I don't trust. Either not sensing our weariness or not caring, Zoe continues, "After you drop them off, we'll go through the scanners and be on our way."

"What's the likelihood of me being able to sneak my gun in?" I ask Gabby as quietly as I can, although I already know the answer.

"The odds are definitely not in your favor," She murmurs back, casually bending over and pulling a knife out of her boot, "And it's better not to draw attention to yourself."

I hesitate for a moment before letting out an exasperated sigh and pulling the gun out of my waistband, depositing it in a gray bin with Gabby's knife. Zoe walks through a short tunnel in a man sized box, pausing inside until there is a beep and one of the guards waves her through. Amar follows suit and then it is my turn. I've never been claustrophobic, but it doesn't mean that I'm fond of tight spaces. I don't hesitate to walk out as soon as the guard motions for me to.

Gabby follows me through, yawning as she waits for the guard to give her the okay. "I can't wait until we can go to bed," She mumbles as she walks over to me, resting her forehead on my arm. It hits me all at once just how tired I am. After spending most of the night either walking or running, I am definitely ready to sleep.

Once the last person has made it through the scanner, Zoe motions for us to follow her. The building beyond the checkpoint is less dreary and dirty feeling. The tiles are polished and bright white, the walls are still gray but there are windows everywhere. We pass by labs and rooms with rows of computers, it's almost like being back in Erudite, but the rooms are much brighter and the air doesn't feel quite as stale and suffocating.

She leads us down a corridor which is crowded with people who stare at us all as we pass. Sensing my uneasiness, Gabby grabs my hand and leans in closer to me, "You get used to the looks." She walks beside me silently until a large room at the end of the hall comes into view. "The control room," She advises, before looking down at her shoes for a moment, "I worked in here while I was gone."

We enter a big, open room with a large circle of screens the center, all of which are currently blank. A sunken section in the middle of the circle is lined with desks and people typing away on smaller screens. There are tables, chairs, and benches set up around the larger screens; people must gather around to watch whatever normally plays on them.

"Before I forget, Gabby," Zoe says quietly, so that only Gabby and I can hear her, "David would like you to stay once the others are showed to the dorm. He has a few things to talk to you about."

Gabby nods to show that she heard the older woman, outwardly seeming calm, except for the fact that she has tightened her grip on my hand.

An older man in a dark blue uniform approaches as we enter the room, giving us a big smile. Something about this man makes me feel uneasy, I can't quiet put my finger on it yet though. He spreads his arms wide as we come to a stop before him, "This is what we've been waiting for since the very beginning."

**Not a super exciting chapter, but the next one should be more interesting. Let me know what you thought of this chapter if you have a moment. I have most of the rest planned out, but I love hearing your ideas and predictions.**

**As I'm re-reading Allegiant for the sake of writing this story, I've remembered just how quickly this book moves. The entirety of the events between the first chapter and the aftermath of the weapon's vault takes place in 13 days. As I did with Insurgent, I'm going to be stretching things out a bit more for the sake of the plot and also because in my head cannon it does take place over a longer period of time.**


	10. Chapter 7

**Hello again my lovely readers! I still haven't seen Insurgent because the people I was going with keep canceling. I meant to have this up sooner, but I've been sick (shocker, right?) and I found out that I have an autoimmune disease; basically the rest my body has decided that it no longer wants to be friends with my thyroid and therefore my thyroid must die. So yeah, tons of doctors' visits and me sleeping a lot does not equal fast updates. **

*****Announcement*** - So, I have no idea if you guys care enough to be interested, but I decided to make a Tumblr blog for my fanfic account. I'll post stuff like cover art, playlists, and other graphics for my stories. Again, you guys may not be interested at all but I thought it would be cool. It's still under construction but the link is on my profile if you are interested.**

** Welcome to everyone who is new****, I don't think a day has passed since I posted chapter 6 that I haven't gotten a notification, so thank you guys! **

**BK2U**** – I guess 'mad' wasn't the correct word to use. I know that when I finally watch it, the changes will annoy me while I watch, but that won't stop me from re-watching or buying the movie. I have just stopped looking at it as Insurgent the book being made into a movie and trying to look at it as a fanfic version of Insurgent in movie form. And yeah, sometimes you need to take a moment to move from one setting to another, hopefully this chapter is more interesting. :D**

**catch39**** \- Glad you liked it! And both of those are very likely predictions/observations. ;)**

**Chapter 7 **

**Gabby's POV**

"My name is David. As Zoe probably told you already, I am the leader of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. I'm going to do my best to explain things."

As David begins his lengthy explanation of why our city was founded I find myself tuning him out. It's the same speech that I heard a little over a year ago, most of the questions that the others are asking are ones I asked, and with the exception of a few sarcastic comments from Eric it's the exact conversation that I had with David and Alvin when I woke up here.

My legs are already sore from the increase in physical activity tonight, I can only imagine how miserable I'm going to be tomorrow. I'm exhausted, between worrying about Four getting Eric out safely and getting up early to say goodbye to my family before we got things together to leave, I barely slept last night.

I have been ignoring the others for a few minutes now, lost in my own thoughts as I worry about what David will say when he dismisses the others. I hear Caleb asking a question and it pulls me back to the conversation.

"So what you're saying is that if we're not Divergent, we're damaged?" He asks, sounding like he is completely crushed.

I am expecting a snarky remark from Eric, a _'Well, we all knew there was something wrong with you'_ or a _'I don't know about everyone else, but your brain is definitely damaged'_, but it never comes. When I look back up at Eric he looks about as deflated as Caleb sounds.

It occurs to me now that it must be so much worse for him than it is the others. Like everyone else, he is going through the pain of finding out that his entire life up until today was a lie, but on top of that he has just found out that one of the main beliefs that Erudite drilled into him was the opposite of the truth. Not to mention that along with finding out that was he wrong about Divergents he also just found out that because he isn't one he is damaged.

"Genetically damaged, yes," David replies after a moment, before launching into an explanation, which apparently he thought was helpful, of how the faction system helped to disguise the behavioral issues normally associated with damaged genes.

"I'm smart," Caleb begins, still sounding like he is crushed, "So you're saying that because my ancestors were altered to be smart, I, their descendant, can't be fully compassionate? I, and every other genetically damaged person, am limited by my damaged genes. And the Divergent are not."

I can still see the gears turning in Eric's head and the shock in his grey eyes. He told me once, while he was helping me get through the fear sims without getting myself killed, that his aptitude test result was Dauntless. I don't know why it never occurred to me that this would be this painful for him. It wasn't that big of a deal to me because I was being told that being Divergent didn't make me weird or mean that my brain wasn't working properly, I was being told that it made me pure and meant that my brain was functioning like everyone's brain was meant to.

Eric, on the other hand, was being told that he was broken, damaged in a way that he could do nothing about. That he was brave, but at the cost of being cruel and unable to properly show compassion.

"Well, think about it," David replies to Caleb's statements with a shrug.

"Genes aren't everything," Amar adds, "People, even genetically damaged people, make choices. That's what matters."

I squeeze Eric's hand and reach over with my free hand to rub his arm, knowing that there isn't much more I could do in this setting without making him feel weak in front of everyone else. Eric doesn't turn to look at me, he continues to stare at one of the blank screens, his eyes glazed over as he thinks.

"This is a lot to process," David finally adds. I hear Christina snort at the older man's understatement and I would normally expect a sarcastic remark from Eric, but he is still silently staring at the screen. "And you've been up all night," David continues, ignoring the reactions of the others, "So Zoe will show you to a place where you can get some rest and food."

"Wait," Tris interjects. I can tell from the way that she is looking at the screens what she is going to ask, "You said you've been observing us. How?"

This seems to bring Eric back from wherever his mind has been. He shakes his head ever so slightly, his eyes focusing on David once again. David nods to someone at one of the desk and all of the screens light back up, each showing a different area of the city. Eric's eyes scan the screens but he doesn't seem anywhere near as surprised as the others, probably because he worked for Jeanine for so long. He knew that the Dauntless monitored the city and the fence, he also knew that Erudite used cameras all over the city to watch us. This just adds another set of people to the list of groups who have invaded our privacy.

As if he is reading my mind, David adds, "You've always known that the Dauntless observe the city with security cameras. Well, we have access to those cameras too."

After a moment of stunned silence, Zoe steps forward, "Let me take you to where you'll be staying so that you can get some rest and let all of this sink in."

The others follow her toward the door in stunned silence, except for Alvin, who David told to stay, and Eric. He turns to look at me finally and I smile up at him sadly, hoping that he isn't upset with me for not telling him sooner.

"You can go with them as well, Eric," David instructs, "I need to have a word with Gabriella."

His tone is deceptively pleasant, but I can tell that David is definitely mad. I squeeze Eric's hand, trying to reassure him, but he shakes his head, "I'm not leaving her."

"I'm afraid that I'll need you to," David replies stoically.

He opens his mouth to say something but I turn and gently place a hand on his chest, "It'll be okay, I'll be right behind you."

He gives me a look, before looking back at David, "Alright, but I'm waiting outside."

David nods his approval of this compromise, watching Eric as he leaves before turning back to Alvin and I.

"I'm not even sure where to begin," He says giving us both a look that reminds me of my father when I got a lower score on a test than he thought I should have. "Your escapade endangered the entire experiment." He turns, focusing his full attention on Alvin now, "Not only did you interfere in the delicate eco system of the city, but you also endangered the live of one of the Divergents from inside. Not to mention that by taking her back in there with you, you have exposed us to the possibility of having to reset Chicago."

My eyes widen at his last words, my mind immediately flashing back to those I left behind. I think of my parents and Andrew forgetting who I am. I think Meghan and Justin, I think of Zeke forgetting his brother.

I turn to look at Alvin, he is staring at his shoes and I feel a pang of guilt. I don't regret going back for Eric, but I do feel bad that it has put Alvin in such a bad position. I also can't lose everything I left in the city permanently. I take a step forward, ready to defend Alvin and argue that there is no reason to rush to reset the City. "David, he-" I begin, only to be cut off by the older man.

"Don't try and defend him, he is just as responsible for this mess as you are." He pauses taking a deep breath, "Do you have any idea what you've done by telling people within the city about even small parts of what is beyond the fence?"

"I only told Eric and Tori," I reply, my voice coming out much smaller and weak this time. "Eric is here now and Tori…"

He takes another exasperated breath once I trail off, "Yes, but we have no idea what they have told to other people." He stares at me for a moment before glancing back at Alvin, "I'm placing you on suspension, and don't try to argue with me about it, I should fire you."

"Yes, sir," Alvin replies.

"I'll have to have you closely monitored until I have evidence that I can trust you again," He says turning back to me. "I've arranged for you to meet Celeste at her office at eleven tomorrow morning to run some tests, I believe you know where that is."

I feel my hand instinctively move to my stomach, my protective instincts coming to the forefront as my hand graces the small baby bump. "Why would I need to meet her at her lab?" I try to ask calmly, although it comes out as a growl. I try to ignore the memories of Jeanine's endless tests and my nightmares. I feel a shiver run down my spine.

David seems to realize what he has done, putting his hands up defensively, "We just want to have someone check on the baby's health. An ultrasound and some blood work just to make sure that everything's okay after all you've been through. We have some information from tests Jeanine ran, but you weren't far enough along for her to do a lot of testing on the fetus and quite a bit of what she did manage to get was corrupted or deleted by your brother before it could be properly examined."

I feel a familiar pang of lose go through me at the mention of Andrew, I knew that he had helped Eric hide who the baby's father was as best he could but I didn't know that he had done it on more than one test.

"Just an ultrasound and blood work?" I ask slowly, studying his face carefully.

"You have my word," He replies, before giving me a look, "Unless of course you volunteered for some genetic testing on it, but that wouldn't be quite yet, we wouldn't want to run the risk of you miscarrying."

"Absolutely not," I reply without a moment's hesitation.

He nods, "I figured you would say that. I would feel a lot more secure in knowing that the child will have healed genes if you had picked a man who wasn't genetically damaged to have a child with."

I can feel my hands beginning to tremble, I need to get away from here before I punch him for talking about Eric that way and for insinuating that I would pick a significant other by their level of genetic purity, even if that is how people out here think.

I take a deep breath to calm myself down. I think about trying to reason with him about the city while I've got his full attention tonight, but I am already exhausted and I know that he won't reset the experiment on impulse. He'll wait as long as he possibly can in the hopes that it won't have to be done. I'll talk to Eric and Four about it before I try to argue with David.

"Am I free to go now," I ask, the irritation coming through in my tone. He nods and I turn, heading for the door. I enter the long hallway that leads back to the main lobby, finding Eric leaning against the wall a few feet from the entrance.

"Hey," I say with a small smile, "Are you okay?"

He stands up straight, studying me for a moment before shrugging, "Yeah, I'm great."

I close the distance between us, wrapping my arms around him. "I should have told you everything, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to put you in more danger."

He shakes his head, "Again, a heads up would have been nice, but you didn't mess with my genes. You didn't take away my ability to show compassion correctly." He pauses, pulling back slightly and running a hand through his dark hair, "You didn't make me choose the wrong side in all of this."

I pull back a little bit more, just until we are far enough apart for me to look him in the eyes, "Eric, I-"

He shakes his head again before cutting me off, "No, I screwed up. I picked the side I did for selfish reasons. I wanted to protect you from Jeanine no matter what that meant that I had to do, and then later when I thought I lost you, I stayed on that side because you were the only person who saw me and not the monster that they made me into. Amar was right, it doesn't matter what genes I inherited, I made those decisions." He pauses for a moment, staring down the hall toward the front lobby. After a minute or two he turns back to me, "I don't regret anything that I did to protect you, and everything else is in the past, I can't take it back now. I don't get a do over, I have to live with what I did and the blood on my hands."

I have no idea what to say or what to do. I want to try to deny what he's saying, but it would be useless trying to lie to him now. I've always made it clear that I don't agree with some of his actions and there are decisions I wish he hadn't made, but I've always known that my Eric was still in there behind the harsh facade he puts up. Since I don't know what else to do, I lean back into him and wrap my arms around him.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, I wake up in one of the beds closer to the dorm's door with Eric's arms wrapped around me. He is still snoring softly, which doesn't surprise me since we stayed up until learly this morning talking. About the city being reset, about this place, about the baby; a little bit of everything. I fell asleep around three but he was still awake when I got up to use the restroom at six. I am still laying with my eyes closed, listening to the sounds of Eric breathing and hoping that I can fall back asleep, when I hear a familiar voice.

"I just got back," The voice says between gasps for air and I suddenly feel like I'm going to be sick. "They told me my sister set out with you guys, and –" George cuts himself off when he sees me sit up, "Gabby, you're back." He smiles at me and I can feel my eyes welling up. Not so much because I knew Tori that well, but because I know how learning that Andrew was dead would absolutely shatter me.

He begins to glance around the room at the other's faces and I climb out of bed, taking a couple steps toward him, "George, I-"

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" George cuts me off, he looks back at me for a moment before shaking his head, "No."

I shake my head, feeling a tear roll down my cheek, "The factionless attacked us as soon as we left the city, she… she didn't make it."

"No," He says again, looking like is trying to pretend he heard me wrong.

"She gave her life defending us," Tris adds in gentle tone I have never heard from her.

After a beat Four adds, "Without her, none of us would have made it out."

"She's… dead?" George asks and I close the distance between us. George and I weren't super close, but we had bonded in the year I was here over the loss of our respective siblings who were still inside the experiment.

"I'm so sorry," I say softly, wrapping my arms around him, even though he is too shocked to hug me back. After a moment I pull him toward the door where Amar is now watching.

"I tried to find you earlier to tell you," Amar says once we are in the hall, someone else must have told him, probably Four.

I hug George again before pulling back and whipping my eyes with the sleeve of my, well Eric's, sweatshirt. "I was with her when she died," I say softly and both men look at me. "I had told her that you were still alive a couple months ago," I say and George nods that he knew that. I smile at him sadly. "She just wanted me to make sure you knew how sorry she was that she didn't make it here to see you again. I know that she would have done anything to get here."

George mumbles thank you, his eyes glassing over with tears as Amar pulls him into a hug before leading him back down the hall.

Once they have disappeared I find myself still standing in the hallway, tears rolling down my cheeks. I can't imagine what he must be going through and it makes me sad for him. It also makes me wonder if I'll ever see Andrew again, which makes me cry harder. I'm sure the pregnancy hormones aren't helping either.

I am still trying to calm down when I feel Eric's muscular arms wrap around me. I turn myself around to face him and bury my face in his neck. Once I have finally calmed myself down I pull away. He wipes a stray tear away with the pad of his thumb. "Are you hungry?" He ask, trying to change the subject to something that won't make me cry more.

I nod, although I don't actually feel like eating right now. I follow him back into the dorm and he grabs two muffins out of the basket someone brought for us. We sit at the head of the bed with our backs to the wall and eat. I've been picking at my muffin for a while when it hits me just how tired I still am.

I glance at the clock, it's 9:50 which means I still have over an hour before I need to meet Celeste. I set the muffin down and rest my head on Eric's shoulder. I must fall asleep because the next thing I know I hear Uriah's voice and someone touches my shoulder.

"Gabby," He says softly, trying not to startle me.

It doesn't work. I jump slightly and my eyes fly open, a second later Eric, who must have fallen asleep too, does the same thing. "Hmm?" I ask once my eyes have focused on my friend's face.

"Sorry," He replies, looking rather tired himself, "There is a lady at the door looking for you. She said something about you missing an appointment."

I glance up at the clock on the wall, it's nearly 11:30. "Dangit," I growl, sitting up and looking for my shoes. I glance over my shoulder at the exhausted man behind me, "We were supposed to be at the doctor's office half an hour ago."

He nods, yawning as he climbs off the bed and grabs his own shoes. When we are both as ready as you can be when you have only been awake for five minutes, I lead Eric out of the room and we follow Celeste back to her lab.

When we walk in, she has everything already set up and ready to go. She has me step onto a scale, making a note of my weight before motioning for me to sit down on the edge of the examination table. "Can you take your sweat shirt off for me, please?" I comply, tossing the shirt to Eric and pulling the tank top I am wearing underneath down self-consciously. She studies me for a moment, before turning to grab a few things off of the counter. "You're what, approximately thirteen weeks along by your own calculations?"

"Yeah," I reply after a moment, running a hand over my stomach.

She nods, before coming back to where I am sitting. She taps the inside of my elbow a couple of times before she sees a vein that will work. She ties a rubber band around my upper arm and grabs a syringe and a couple of vials.

"What are you testing for?" Eric asks through another yawn.

"Just the usual," She informs him while she waits for the first vial to fill, "Checking for any medical conditions that might endanger the fetus and making sure that all of Gabby's levels are normal." She next takes my blood pressure before she has me lie down and pull my shirt up so that she can examine my stomach. She feels around for a moment, making sure that nothing feels abnormal before listing with her stethoscope.

"So far, so good," She advises with a kind smile.

I feel myself start to loosen up a little now that I know that she hasn't noticed anything majorly wrong so far. She gets her equipment ready and begins the ultrasound, squeezing cold gel onto my exposed stomach.

She has been rubbing the transducer around on my stomach for a while when I hear her mumble, "Interesting."

"What's interesting?" Eric asks from the side of the table where he is holding my hand.

"Well, this," She replies moving the wand around for a moment before pointing to something on the screen that means absolutely nothing to me, "This is a placenta." She pauses for a moment scanning the screen before pointing to another spot, "And that, is a second placenta."

"That's ridiculous," I mumble incredulously, "Wouldn't I be bigger than I am if I was having twins?"

"Not necessarily given that you're a first time mom and the amount of stress you've been under," She replies.

I glance back at Eric, his face has completely drained of color, his eyes bouncing between the two spots on the screen, "I think I misheard you."

Celeste chuckles, "It's actually not that surprising, given your family history, Gabby." I stare at her for a moment and my confusion must be obvious because she gives me a sympathetic look. She grabs a tablet from the counter, tapping the screen a couple of times before handing it to me. "I pulled up your chart, including your family tree, before your visit. Just to check for history of genetic disorders and any medical problems you might have."

I scan the screen for a moment before my eyes land on my father's name, Martin Lester EE, and a horizontal line connecting it to Madeline (Wilson) Lester CE, my mother.

"Candor born, chose Erudite," Celeste advises, pointing to the CE next to my mother's name.

I nod before looking back down at the tablet. A line drops down from that line to Andrew and I's names, but it is the line going up from my mother's name that catches my eye now. I can only remember one time that my mother spoke about her childhood. When I was seven or eight I was helping her clean our apartment one weekend when she came across a small bracelet that had fallen behind her dresser.

When I asked about it she had chuckled, "It's just a silly trinket." She had paused, studying it for another moment before adding, "A gift from someone back in Candor." She had a tendency to speak her mind and was sometimes brutally honest, so this didn't surprised me, but hearing her talk about the past was so strange that the memory stuck with me.

The line going up from my mother's name connects to Jarrod Wilson CC and Margaret (Blanchard) Wilson EC, her parents. Another horizontal line also connects to the name Marie (Wilson) Burrows CC.

I glance back up at my doctor and she leans closer, tapping Marie and my mother's name to show more information. The birth dates are the same. I stare at the screen for a while longer before looking up at Eric who has been watching over my shoulder, "She had a twin."

"Fraternal twin," Celeste adds with a smile, "Just like yours."

It's such an odd feeling, learning something from a complete stranger about someone that you lived in a three bedroom apartment with for sixteen years. "Twins," I say, my eyes still glued to the screen.

I thought that Eric could never look more terrified than he did the moment Jeanine told him I was pregnant, but I was wrong. When I look up he is staring at the screen vacantly but after a moment he turns his attention back to me, locking his gray eyes with mine before murmuring, "Twins."

**Okay, so before the naysayers come and give me crap for the whole 'twins' thing being overdone in fanfic, I have my reasons. And I don't think that there are many plot points that have ****never**** been done before in fanfiction. I didn't choose this because other people have used it, nor would I have even considered that at all when I was planning out my story. **

**Any-who, let me know what you thought in the review section if you have a moment. I will talk to you guys next time ;) Have a great rest of your week!  
**


	11. Chapter 8

**Hello again all of my lovely readers! Sorry this took a bit longer than I planned. I'm moving and, if you follow me/check my tumblr you know that this has been a… rough week. Also, speaking of tumblr, you can always check the link on my profile if I'm not updating to see why and also for playlist and cover art (I haven't posted a lot but I'll post more when life settles down next week).**

**Thank you guys for being so supportive and amazing!**

**Olivia-Ivy**** – Hey long time no see ;) That is a good idea, I'll put something at the end of the chapter.**

**Youreprettyradd**** – I'm glad you think so and glad you enjoy the story!**

**catch39**** – Very true, he is going to be overjoyed when he finds out. And thank you, I hate being sick all the time.**

**hazu23**** \- :D**

**morbidly-funny**** – Thank you, glad you liked it!**

**I still don't own Eric or Allegiant. Can someone get on that? ;)**

**Chapter 8**

**Eric's POV**

When we leave the doctor's office I am still stuck in a haze of conflicting emotions. I was terrified when I originally found out that Gidget was pregnant, and I am even more panicked right now. I was already worried that I won't be a good father, how am I going to handle two? What if I completely screw them up? What if they grow up thinking that I hate them and feeling unwanted, like I did? I know absolutely nothing about babies or diapers. What if I drop one of them?

I must be starting to show how panicked I am because Gabby squeezes my hand and when I glance over at her as we walk, she has a concerned look plastered on her face. Looking at her calms me down a little, it reminds me that we can handle this as long as we have each other. It also seems to bring the positive emotions and questions to the forefront. I promised from the beginning that I was going to take care of Gabby and our kid, I can do this. It's just one more kid.

One more mouth to feed. One more person to keep clothed and sheltered. One more chance to screw this all up. No, I was wrong, I can't do this.

"Deep breath," Gabby whispers softly as we come to a stop by the weird sculpture in the front lobby. She must be able to see the concern in my eyes, because she rests her head on my shoulder, "We can do this. We'll figure it out, even if we have to make things up as we go."

I take a deep breath and try to focus on the good things. "We can do this," I repeat, albeit rather unconvincingly.

She pulls away and smirks at me, "Well, at least the numbers are even, two against two. It could have been worse. I could be having triplets, we would be outnumbered and utterly screwed."

I chuckle, although the idea of trying wrangle three kids is completely overwhelming. She opens her mouth to say something else, but we are interrupted by a familiar voice.

"There you guys are!" Uriah shouts as he and Christina cross the lobby to meet us.

"Are you guys coming?" Christina asks, giving me a weird look.

I realize now how panicked I must look and quickly adopt my usual mask of indifference, "Coming where?"

"Zoe didn't tell you?" Uriah asks before looking at Gabby, "How long were you at the doctor for? Is everything okay?"

"Doctor?" Christina asks, giving Gabby an appraising look.

Gabby gives them a smile and nods, "Yeah, everything's good." Uriah gives her a look, like he is trying to decide whether she is lying or not. It occurs to me that I don't know who all she has told about the baby. She has been sticking to baggy clothes, usually my sweatshirts, so it hasn't been very obvious just from looking at her.

After a few more moments he seems to decide that she is telling the truth, or at least to leave the subject for another time. "Anyway, Zoe told us that they are taking a group of us up in an airplane. We have to meet them at gate C…"

He turns back to Christina with a look of concentration, trying to remember the rest of the gate number. She chuckles, "B14. Where would you be without me?"

He smirks back at her, "Gate C, apparently." She shoves his shoulder and they both laugh.

Gabby has a knowing smirk on her lips as she watches the pair banter. "I'll pass. Been there, done that," She finally replies, before turning to me, "But you should go if you want. It is really amazing, looking down from up there."

"I'll stay here with you…." I start, but she cuts me off, clearly knowing what I was about to say.

"I'll be fine. I have friends here, you don't have to worry," She says as she squeezes my hand, "I'm probably just going to go take a nap. Maybe check in at the control room to see if I can hear anything about Carl's trial."

I know that arguing with her is useless at this point, and I have to admit that it does sound exciting. It then occurs to me that she probably won't be alone. One of the perks of leadership was being able to access fear landscape data. Four is afraid of heights. "Okay, I'll go," I say, which appears to slightly deflate the pair of 16 year olds standing in front of me.

Gabby smiles at me, "Good, have fun." She stands on her tip toes and kisses me, which elicits an 'Eww, get a room' from Uriah. Gabby turns her attention back to the younger boy, smacking him in the side of the head, before smiling at him. "Stay out of trouble up there," She instructs, "No jumping from the airplane."

"Yes, mother," He replies sarcastically, "Why do you have to ruin everything?"

Christina glances at her watch, "We need to go or they're going to go without us."

The pair turn to go and after a moment I take a step forward to follow, turning and walking backward for a few steps, "Stay out of trouble."

Gabby smiles, "I'll try. Remember, if something goes wrong up there, it should be a fast death."

I smirk back at her, remember her telling me the same thing as we got in line for the zip line when she was an initiate. "You're so weird," I reply, echoing my response from last year, before jogging to catch up to the others.

**XxXxXxX**

I've never felt as small and insignificant as I did today. Looking down on a city that I once saw as my entire world but am now realizing is just a miniscule part of the actual world. As we get off the plane and make our way back to the main building, I can tell that Tris is hanging back as her friends hurry off to do whatever they are planning to do.

"Can I ask you something?" She asks finally, the look on her face is one of disbelief, like she can't believe she is willingly asking me a question.

"No, I don't think you can pull off short hair," I respond with a smirk, without looking at her.

She growls and mumbles, "Never mind."

I chuckle before glancing at her, "What do you want to know, Stiff?"

She takes a moment, and I don't think that she is going to ask, but finally she lets out a deep breath, "Is it weird for you, knowing that the people out here see you as damaged?"

It's a surprisingly personal question, it takes me a moment to decide how to answer. "No," I reply finally with a shrug, "But I am used to people seeing me in a negative way, hating me. To be honest, after all I've done for the sake of saving our way of life back in the city, and more importantly for the sake of protecting my family, I don't think anyone could hate me as much as I hated the person I became." It's quite possibly the most honest thing I have ever said to anyone except for Gabby, and I have no idea why I said it. I feel the urge to try to discredit all of what I just said, to say something sarcastic or cruel. Instead I find myself finishing the thought, "The only opinion I care about is Gabby's and I know that she doesn't see me differently because I'm not divergent."

She thinks this over for a minute before stopping just before the stairs that lead back into the building, "So it doesn't bother you that Gabby is divergent and you aren't?"

I turn and study her for a moment, "Why are you asking? I can't see you taking this much of an interest in my opinions, especially when you and Eaton are both divergent. Unless…"

I trail off, not needing to actually ask the question because the look on her face is confirmation enough. "He found out this morning," She confirms after a moment, "I just don't understand why it's such a big deal."

I let out a snort, moving to sit on the steps, "Of course you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asks defensively.

"You were just told that you're special, like everyone for the last few months has been telling you." I take a deep breath, "As much as I have hated Four for the last two years, I can at least understand why this sucks for him. He's spent the last two years being told that he was special and had people basically begging him to accept more power because of it. Now he's being told that he isn't special anymore, he's broken and a big part of the thing that made him unique is gone."

She is looking at me with something between shock and confusion, "That was surprisingly insightful."

I smirk, "Yeah, well don't tell anyone, the last thing I need is people wanting to talk to me all the time."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," She replies.

I look back at the plane for a few moments before looking back at the younger girl, "Gabby's is the only opinion I care about. I could not possibly care less what the rest of you think about me, and I know that she doesn't look at me any differently now than she did when before she knew what being divergent meant."

"Tobias knows that I love him and I don't care what his genes say," She replies, crossing her arms across her chest.

I fight to hold back a sarcastic remark, "Even so, all you can really do is make sure that he does know that, and try to help him accept that he's still the same person."

She shakes her head, "Have they been drugging you with Amity serum?"

I shake my head, "No, but if you try to tell anyone else about this conversation I will deny that this ever happened." I smirk down at my feet for a moment, "I guess I'm going to have to get used to the whole giving serious advice thing now, that's what dads are supposed to do."

This is exactly why I don't let my guard down and have serious conversations. As soon as the words leave my mouth I want to take them back, and for a fleeting moment I think that she hasn't noticed, but life doesn't work that way. "Dad?"

I take a deep breath and run a hand through my hair. I look back at her a few seconds later and nod, "I guess I figured Four told you already."

"Four already knew?" She asks.

"Yeah, he found out when we got you and Gabby out of Erudite," I reply, "Although, if he didn't tell you I'm sure that it's because Gabby made him promise not to tell anyone."

She nods, staring at me for a moment, "I can't picture you with a kid."

Screw it. Why not just go all in as long as I'm already having an entirely too personal conversation with a person I don't usually talk to? Or particularly like for that matter. "Two," I say with a sigh, holding up two fingers.

"Oh, wow that's…" She trails off.

"Yeah," I reply with a chuckle "We both got unexpected news this morning."

"If she's far enough along for them to tell that, she would have been pregnant when Jeanine was…"

I nod once she trails off and she gets a sickened look on her face. "Jeanine and that bastard of a brother of yours."

I expect her to defend him, but she doesn't. "Is she okay?" She asks, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Yeah, they're all fine now," I reply, pulling myself back up to my feet. "Speaking of Gabby though, I need to go find her." I start up the steps, but pause at the top, "Remember, this conversation never happened."

I hear her chuckle, "What conversation?"

"See you around, Stiff," I add before walking through the door.

**So let me know what you thought of this chapter. I know it was a little ooc but I hope you guys still liked it. And ****ruwaydahzara**** I know this isn't exactly what you meant (and it's not what I intended) but my brain does its own thing sometimes…**

*****Read me*** - So I am going to take suggestions for baby names and pick my two favorites. At least one name has to have Jess in it and you have until Friday night. You can review, PM me here, or send me an ask on tumblr.**

**I am also going to post the first chapter of a Divergent prequel I've been working on tonight, hopefully. It's Eric centric and starts a year before his initiation. If it sounds like your kind of story check it out.**

**I will talk to you guys soon, I should have another short chapter up before Friday.**


	12. Chapter 9

**Hello again lovelies! Moving is horrible. I'm exhausted and the only chance I've had to write was today while I was driving my sister around, when I was waiting in the car. I'm really stressed out. My tea kettle betrayed me/tried to kill me in a tidal wave of boiling water. I'm editing this at 12:50 am, sitting in a sea of boxes (some of whom I suspect are sentient because they always seem to be in just the right place to trip me) but I wanted to get this up because you guys always make me feel better when I read your reviews. **

**dvgt**** – Thank you for the suggestions!**

**534667lc**** – Thank you for reading! And for the suggestions!**

**Guest – Ahhh, thank you! You made me smile so you get a virtual slice of Dauntless cake. ;) I'm glad you liked it and thank you for the suggestions.**

**hazu23**** – Glad you liked it, I was worried that no one would!**

**catch39**** – Yeah, he was originally more sarcastic but it seemed like a little bit too much. In his defense he has a lot on his mind right now, so she caught him at a good moment. I can promise you he won't let it happen again. ;)**

**I still don't own Divergent or Eric, but if someone can arrange that they'd be new best friend. ;)**

**Chapter 9**

**Gabby's POV**

Once Eric has followed the others I decide to go to the control room for a while. When I walk in there are the usual clusters of people gathered to watch the screens. A few glance my way but most are too entranced by whatever is going on. I glance down to see who is monitoring the stations in the middle of the room, spotting a familiar face I cross to one of the desks at the back.

"Hey Paula," I great as I come to a stop next to her chair.

"Gabby," She says with a smile although she doesn't look up, "I heard you were back."

"Yeah, last night," I reply, watching over her shoulder.

She nods, "Congratulations, I was watching when you found out about the baby. Bet you're happy to be back out here and away from the craziness."

"Yeah, it was a rough couple of months," I respond, fighting the urge to correct her and tell her that it's babies, not baby. I don't though. I don't want to tell anyone just yet, Eric and I still need more time to process. I watch over her shoulder for a minute or two as Evelyn paces back and forth in the room where Marcus' trial is being held, gesturing enthusiastically as she talks. After a moment I snap back to reality, "So, I wanted to ask if you've heard anything about my dad or Carl's trials."

"Nothing about your dad so far, but Carl's trial is next week," She responds, glancing over her shoulder at me, "They've got the whole thing on video, him trying to shoot you and killing Jessica. It should be a fairly open and shut case."

"Yeah," I hear myself mumble. I hate Carl with a fiery passion for killing Jess and I want him to suffer; but a very small part of me misses the Carl I knew before. The Erudite I watched slowly become a Dauntless during initiation. The guy I watched get his first tattoo. The boy who kept my secret when he found out about Eric and I. My friend. I guess another part of me still wants to know if it was all a lie. Was he ever really that person or was it all an act?

When I phase back in, Paula is studying me curiously, "You alright?"

"Yeah," I say again, smiling down at her, "I'm just tired. I'm going to head back to the dorm, but will you let me know if you hear anything else?"

Paula nods, "Absolutely, go get some rest."

I give her another smile before starting back toward the dorm. When I get back everyone is still gone. I try to lay down and take a nap, but it's too quiet and I end up lost in my thoughts instead of sleeping. After another ten minutes of trying to sleep, I get up and decide to go for a walk.

I find myself at one of the gates that is less used and still looks like it did before the Purity War, for the most part. No one seems to be around so I decide to go watch out the wall of windows for a little while. I am crossing the room when I realize the Four is sitting on one of the benches that I couldn't see at first.

"Hey, Four," I greet as I get to where he is sitting.

He glances up, clearly so distracted that he hadn't noticed that I was here until I announced my presence.

"Hey," He replies halfheartedly.

I think about continuing on, but he seems upset, so I find myself sitting on the bench that faces his. "What's wrong?"

He opens his mouth to reply and for a moment I think that he is going to just brush me off or tell me he wants to be alone, but he closes it again and gives me a curious look. He looks down at his feet for a few seconds before looking back at me, "I guess of anyone I would want to talk to knows about this stuff, it's you." He takes a deep breath, "Tris volunteered me to go with her for some genetic testing this morning, turns out I have the markers for simulation awareness, but I'm… I don't have healed genes."

"You're not actually divergent," I respond softly, he nods and we fall into an awkward silence. "What did Tris say?" I ask after a few minutes.

He scoffs, "She said that it wasn't a big deal, that I'm the same person. That the truth changes nothing."

I nod, "It's true that you're the same person, but it doesn't feel like nothing when you're the one it affects."

He nods, "I know that what she's saying is true, at least to some extent, but not being divergent, it…"

He trails off, shaking his head like he doesn't think I would understand. "It was what identified you in the city, made you unique." He nods again and I smile at him, "I know that right now, this feels like it's going to change everything, but you're still Four. You're still Tobias Eaton."

"I don't know who that is right now," He replies.

"You remember last year, during the fear sims, when you told me that Eric murdered Amar?" I ask after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I know I was…." He starts but I cut him off.

"That's not what I mean," I say, shaking my head, "I believed you, I trusted you, because I respected you. If some random guy had just walked up to me and told me that Eric was a killer, I would have laughed at them and walked away." I take another deep breath, "I respect you, as a teacher and a friend, because of who you are. You're tough but fair and not unnecessarily cruel. You're intelligent, you're good with computers, and you have a drive to find the truth when something doesn't sit right with you. You're quiet and you push people away, but you're also loyal to the people you do let in."

I smirk at him, "David and the others want to tell you that something about you is broken? So what! Screw them! You are you, no matter what the computer says. The people who care about you and look up to you aren't going to stop just because some dude in a lab coat says there's something wrong with you. They wanted you in their lives before because of the person that you are, not because you were divergent. Who cares about the people who do look down on you because of that?"

Four stares at me for a moment, "When you first got here, and they told you that you were 'genetically pure' and that Eric was 'genetically damaged', did it make you look at him any differently? Does it bother you that people out here view him as damaged?"

"No," I respond with a chuckle, "Does it annoy me that they think less of him for not being divergent? Yes, but it doesn't make me love him any less that these idiots see him that way."

He nod, "It's still really weird to hear the name Eric and the phrase I love him in the same sentence."

I laugh and he smiles for the first time, "He's an idiot sometimes. He's sarcastic and has a tendency to act before he thinks. He's definitely not perfect, but neither am I, and I love him, flaws and all." I feel myself blush, I glance away for a moment, "Tris loves you. I see the way she looks at you, she isn't going to give up on you just because you aren't perfect."

"Thank you," He finally replies.

I smile at him again and stand up, "I'll let you get back to thinking. If you need someone to talk to, let me know."

He nods and I start walking to the dorm to see if Eric is back. Maybe I can finally take that nap.

**Short, I know, but I just wanted to get Gabby and Four's side of the conversation. Hope you guys liked it. You still have until tomorrow (today?) night to give me suggestions for baby names. Hopefully everything will be calm by Sunday night and I can write more. Next two chapters are going to jump forward a bit, for reasons.**

**If you read my story 'Monsters Aren't Born, They are Created' new chapter should be up either tomorrow (today, Friday) or Saturday night, depending on when I find time to edit it. **

**(I realize that I'm jumping around a lot in these author's notes, it definitely has nothing to do with vodka… definitely not)**


	13. Chapter 10

**Hello again lovely readers! I wanted this to be up sooner but this week has been crazy. But I am writing again now and I am full of ideas. Welcome to everyone who just started following the story this last week! And as always, thank you to the people who took a second to leave me a review!**

orangeporqupine – Hope you liked the chapter!

BK2U – Thank you! Your review really made my day when I first got it and again tonight when I re-read it. It always bothered me too, I just wanted to jump into the book and fix it. I guess I sort of did now.

H2o and TVD lover – Thank you for the suggestions! Should find out what names I picked in the next couple of chapters.

534667lc – Yay! You win a slice of Dauntless cake ;) I wonder too…

**I still don't own Eric or Divergent.**

**Chapter 10**

**Eric's POV – 7 weeks later**

It's hard to believe that it's been almost two months since we arrived here at the Bureau. Nothing too exciting has happened; a couple doctor's visits, a few attack drills, one actual attack that didn't get very far before the perpetrators were caught, a few hours of watching the screens, and a lot of learning about things in the outside world.

We haven't made an official decision about where we want to go from here. We can stay here or we can be relocated to one of the cities, but for now we are all still in the shared dormitory. I think that everyone wants to hang around here to see what happens to the city first. Most of us have family still inside, and there is growing concern that the escalating tension inside of Chicago will lead to the Bureau wiping their memories.

Evelyn's reign of terror continues, but I think that most of them are hoping that Marcus and Johanna can take her down and restore the factions before drastic action has to be taken. That would save them the trouble of resetting the entire experiment and less stressful for them if they don't have to report another failure to the government.

Evelyn announced earlier this week that she would be executing all prisoners who had been found guilty of crimes against the people of the city this weekend. This list includes both Jeanine Matthews, the remaining three former Dauntless leaders, and that scumbag who killed Gidget's friend Jessica.

Her father was exonerated last week, which isn't surprising but was a relief because the longer he was left to wait, the tenser Gabby has seemed. She never had a very close relationship with her parents. Most of the older Erudite don't believe in showing affection more than is absolutely necessary for procreation, and her parents definitely held to that philosophy. You wouldn't think that love could be cold and intellectual, but the Erudite seem to pull it off. Despite their exterior, though, I know that she loves them and you can see it in their eyes when they look at their daughter that they love her.

Today is Friday; Gabby and I have another appointment with Celeste this afternoon, and hopefully if the babies cooperate we will find out their gender today. I am awake before Gabby this morning, which is strange because she has been having trouble sleeping lately and is usually awake long before I am.

I haven't gotten up yet, I'm still lying with my arm around Gabby and listening to her breath. The others are still asleep too, I can hear Uriah snoring and Jeff mumbling in his sleep. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up here, being intimately acquainted with people who I once hated, tormented, and terrified. So much so that I can tell their snores apart just by listening.

Gabby's breathing changes, she is taking shorter breaths but they are being taken in much more rapidly, like she is beginning to hyperventilate. She starts to move back and forth, like she is trying to free herself from someone's hold and she is mumbling the word no over and over in a faint whisper.

"Gidg," I whisper, squeezing her arm gently, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. "Gabby," I say a little louder this time, propping myself up so that I can see her face, "Gabby."

"No," She says again at a normal volume as her eyes flash open. She glances around the room, trying to get her bearings as she takes several deep breaths.

"It was just a dream," I whisper and she turns to look at me, her eyes red and brimming with unshed tears. She takes another deep breath before rolling over and resting her head on my shoulder. "The nightmares seem to be getting worse," I note after a few moments of silence.

She doesn't reply for several minutes, instead she stares blankly at the wall with her hand resting on her stomach protectively. Finally, she turns her head to look up at me for a moment, "Do you want to go for a walk?"

I nod, sitting up and grabbing my shoes as she moves to do the same, although she struggles since her stomach is in the way. I grab her other shoe for her from under the bed once I'm ready and she smiles at me appreciatively.

We walk from the dorm, through the white halls and toward the front lobby. She grabs my hand and intertwines her fingers with mine, "We have that appointment today."

I smile back at her as we walk toward the front door, "We do. What do you want?"

She thinks for a moment, "I want at least one boy."

"Yeah, but can we really handle a mini version of me running around?" I reply with a smirk, "I want a girl, at least one, I think a girl would be easier too."

Gabby laughs, her blue eyes lighting up, "Maybe as a baby, maybe, but can you imagine you parenting a teenage daughter? I'm going to have to get some sort gun safe that only I know the combination to just to keep you from shooting any guy that comes near her, not to mention any that she actually dates."

"Who says she's aloud to date when she's a teenager?" I reply with a smirk, "I think forty is a good age."

She laughs as we walk down the front steps, a cool breeze blowing her hair into her face. She tucks it behind her ear with her free hand, "Yes, because it will be so easy to tell her not to date; especially with the stubbornness I am sure she will get from the two of us." She smirks up at me before adding, "Not to mention that by then she'll be old enough to realize that we were eighteen and nineteen when she was born."

"True," I concede with a nod.

"We don't even have the excuse my mother had," She says as the smirk fades a little. We walk past several sections of fence before she snaps back to the conversation, "Whenever Andrew was interested in a girl, she always used to lecture him about perusing a good career and focusing on reaching his goals first. He would always counter by saying 'You got married young. You had me when you were nineteen and you still managed to complete your medical training.' Then she would look at him, shake her head, and make a comment about how the only thing she got out of marrying my dad was the two of us and a headache."

She pauses again, starring at the ground for a few feet. I squeeze her hand, "We aren't them."

She nods and looks back at me, "I just don't want my kids to have to sneak up to the roof to get away from us screaming at each other or have to worry about us splitting up."

I chuckle, "They won't. You're stuck with me now, whether you like it or not." She smiles at me and her free hand moves to play with her ring. It's still on a chain around her neck because her finger is swollen from being pregnant. "You know how people say that if you aren't sure about something, like getting a tattoo or buying a shirt, that you should leave it and see if you keep thinking about it?"

She smirks, "Are you comparing me to a shirt?"

I laugh, "No, well sort of." She shoves my arm playfully and I pretend to stumble to the side a couple of steps. "What I meant is, when I left Erudite I didn't think that you would defect, I figured that I would never see you again. I still thought about you all the time. When I had to go for a meeting with Jeanine I always hoped I would run into you. Then I thought I lost you for good when Four told me you were dead, but you were still the voice of reason in my head. Even if I didn't always listen to it." I pause, glancing over at her, "What I'm saying is, I know that I don't want to live without you in my life again."

When she turns to look at me, her blue eyes are full of tears again. It's become a fairly common occurrence, seeing her cry at almost everything, especially the happy things. She smiles at me and chuckles as she wipes her eyes, "You have no idea. Watching you live your life from a far for a year was hell. Watching you be in pain and not being able to get back to you." She takes a deep breathe, "Even that fight we got into during my initiation; we didn't talk for a day and I felt like I was going to lose my mind."

I smirk and pull her closer to me, wrapping my arm around her shoulders as we walk. We go a few minutes without talking, both taking in the movements of the Bureau employees that we pass. "So," I say as we wind our way back to the steps to the main building, "What do you think about food?"

"It's definitely a necessity before our appointment," She says and we head for the mess hall.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Are you two ready for this?" Celeste asks as we enter her office.

Gabby smiles nervously, "I think so."

"And you want to know the gender, right? Don't want it to be a surprise?" She asks as she turns the ultrasound machine on.

Gabby laughs, "No way, I want to know, we need the next couple of months to form a battle strategy."

Celeste laughs, "You know that they're babies and not soldiers trying to attack you, right?"

"Well, we don't have the numbers advantage anymore, and we both have minimal baby experience so I think it's a fairly fitting comparison." Gabby replies as she takes off my sweatshirt and pulls up the tank top she had on underneath.

"You'll both do fine," She says giving me a smile, "Your instincts will kick in and you've been reading those parenting books that I found you." She pauses what she is doing and smirks at me, "No hanging them over underground rivers, but other than that you'll be fine."

I nod, resisting the urge to say something rude back to the older woman. She squeezes the tub of lubricant onto Gabby's stomach and begins to spread it around with the wand.

"They're cooperating today," She notes after a few moments of silence as she studies the screen. She falls silent for another moment, just long enough for me to worry that something is wrong, but she turns to Gabby with a smile. "See that," She says pointing to the baby on the left and waiting until Gabby nods, "This one's a boy."

Gabby smiles and looks up at me. I feel myself grin. I am worried about all the broken bones and mischief, but it all seems so much more real now that I'm seeing them. It's happening whether I'm ready or not, so I might as well enjoy it.

"And over here," She says moving the wand around, "He's got a sister."

I grin again and squeeze Gidget's hand, "Looks like we both got what we wanted."

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Why won't you tell me?" Gabby asks, pulling back on my hand to stop me from walking further down the hall. I've been working on this for a while, but it was finally ready today and I figured it was as good a time as any.

I smirk back at her, "I told you, it's a surprise."

"Haven't we had enough surprises recently?" She asks, returning my smirk as we continue walking.

I chuckle, "This is another good one, I promise."

"Fine, but I…" She trails off as we walk into the usually empty and unused gate. Her eyes landing on Henry, the older man who is sitting on one of the disused benches, before they travel to Paula and Cara who you are sitting a few feet away. Finally, they land on the blanket in the corner with candles set up around it and a basket of food. "What is all this?" She asks in a whisper.

"Well," I reply slowly as I turn to face her, "I know that you wanted to be married before we had kids. Obviously it's a little late, but I thought…"

As I trail off her eyes well up, "Really?"

I nod, "I had to wait for them to finish getting our paperwork in order for outside of the city. This is Henry, he's what they call a justice of the peace out here, I got your friend Paula to help me get things set up with him." At this, Henry stands and crosses the room to meet us, a folder tucked under his arm.

"It's not much of a ceremony, but I figured this was a little more our style anyway," I add and she smiles again. "We needed two witnesses who were over eighteen so that ruled out almost everyone from the city, except for Cara. Well, and Four, but…" I trail off and she laughs as she wipes away the tears from her eyes.

I nod to Henry and he pulls the thick black folder from under his arm. Cara and Paula walk over, somewhat awkwardly but Gabby doesn't seem to notice so I don't care.

"The step which you are about to take is the most important into which human beings can come. It is a union of two people founded upon mutual respect and affection. Your lives will change, your responsibilities will increase, but your joy will be multiplied if you are sincere and earnest with your pledge to one another." He smiles as he looks between Gabby's face and mine. "Eric Bartholomew Nelson, will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto her, for so long as you both shall live?"

I nod and he gives me a look, "I will."

"Gabriella Marie Lester, will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto him, so long as you both shall live?"

"I will," She says as her eyes become misty again. She looks back from Henry to me, "It was always you, and it always will be."

Henry smiles again, "Take each other's hands and repeat after me:" He turns to look at me first, "I, Eric, take you, Gabriella, to be my wedded wife," He pauses and I repeat his words, then he continues. "To have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer or for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward."

Gidget is smiling at me as I finish, her eyes never leave mine as Henry turns to her and says the first line. "I, Gabriella, take you, Eric, to be my wedded husband," She repeats, finally glancing away as the older man instructs her what to say next. "To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward."

"Although I have been informed that you will not be exchanging rings today, strive to uphold what they represent; your affection, sincerity and fidelity to one another," Henry continues before giving as a wide smile, "In as much as Eric and Gabriella have consented together in wedlock and have witnessed the same before this company, and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the State of Illinois, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may n…"

Henry trails off because I have already pulled Gabby to me and met her lips with mine. He chuckles as I pull back, "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson." He flips to a page in the folder, pointing to two lines, "Eric sign here and Gabriella here." He turns to our two witnesses and then the three of them scatter once they have signed.

"Mrs. Nelson," Gabby repeats with a smirk.

I smirk back at her and lead her over to the corner. We eat dinner, talking about anything and everything, just happy to be together. After we eat, she leans against me and we watch out the windows, casually starting to toss out baby names.

I am distracted for a few seconds by the headlights of a truck driving by, when I look back down at her she is studying me. She smiles up at me and it's like I forget that everything else exists. I know we're both scared. I know that we're completely unprepared for what's to come; but it doesn't matter. We've got each other and that's all we need.

**So, yeah. I had no idea it was happening in this chapter until it was half written, so I'm just as surprised as you are. We will jump forward a bit again next chapter, I needed to fit some extra time in for plot purposes. I know this chapter was super fluffy, hopefully not too fluffy, but let me know what you thought!**

**Let's just hope it's not the calm before the storm...**


	14. Chapter 11

**Hello again my dears! As we begin the last phase of this story (we still have several chapters left, but it's the beginning of the end) I'm really excited because I'm proud of this series and that I stuck with it, saw the story through to the end. But I'm also stupidly sad. I don't know what to do with myself when there are no more Gabby and Eric scenes to write…**

**Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! Welcome to anyone who is new!**

**For anyone who submitted a name: Thank you all for the suggestions****. As I was looking through the suggestions I noticed something, you guys suggested a lot of names that were personal for me. I just think it's funny. For example, Ella is my grandmother's name. You guys also suggested one of my brother's names, one of my sister-in-law's names, one of my cousin's names, and the name of the guy I had a crush on in high school. Just a fun fact.**

**Olivia-Ivy**** – To be fair I didn't shoot Gabby, that was all Alvin. And it was a tranq dart. ;) Glad you think it's awesome though!**

**534667lc**** – Yes, very soon. Thank you for reading!**

**orangeporqupine**** – Glad you liked it :D**

**morbidly-funny**** – Thank you! I'm glad you liked the chapter and seeing the evolution of Gidgic. **

**BK2U**** – Yay, I'm glad you thought the wedding was good. I don't know why, but the part of your review about being witnessed by near strangers makes me laugh every time I look at it, so thank you.**

**catch39**** – Glad you liked the Gabby and Four scene. Thank you, I was worried that the end of last chapter was too fluffy, so I'm glad you liked it.**

**I STILL don't own Eric or Divergent**

**Chapter 11**

**Gabby's POV – 9 weeks later**

I walk with Carl to the hallway outside of the simulation room and we sit side by side, waiting in silence. After a while he nudges me awkwardly, "Is… did something happen between you and you-know-who?"

I sigh, finally settling for nodding yes since I can't seem to bring myself to say anything. He awkwardly puts an arm around my shoulders and looks around the room at anything but me.

After a moment I can't help but laugh softly, "You're really bad at this."

He smiles back at me, "I got you to laugh, though, so that's got to count for something."

I chuckle again but something about all of this doesn't feel right. I've got this really weird feeling of deja vu, like I've had this exact conversation before.

I don't have a chance to worry about it further though, the door opens and Four walks out. His eyes land on me and he motions for me to follow him into the room I have learned to dread.

When I walk through the door, however, I don't find myself in the fear simulation room in Dauntless. Instead I find myself in Erudite, in a one of the large open meeting rooms. There is a chair setup in the center of the room and the seats around the perimeter are packed with people.

I look around the room, a lot of the people look familiar but I can't put a name to any of the faces.

"Do I regret it?" A voice behind me asks with a chuckle. The voice is familiar, but it lacks the warm tone that I am used to; instead it sounds cold and sarcastic.

When I turn back to the chair, a man is sitting in it and Evelyn is standing in front of him with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. I move so that I can see the man's face, but once his face comes into view I freeze.

The man looks like Carl, but it can't be him. The man's hair is long, greasy, and unkempt. His eyes are wild and he wears a sadistic smirk.

"No, I don't regret any of it," He says, his eyes scanning the room until they land on me. He chuckles and stares straight into my eyes with a look that feels like it is piercing right through me. "I don't regret deceiving those idiots. I don't regret killing that stupid girl. I didn't intend to kill her, but she got in my way. My only regret is that I didn't kill Eric's little whore and her baby when I had the chance." The words sound familiar, like I've heard them somewhere before but I can't remember when or where.

I can't understand why he's being like this. "I thought we were friends," I find myself saying, stepping forward.

He lets out a laugh, "Why would I want to be friends with you? You were just a mark I had to keep an eye on. Some stupid girl I had to watch and be ready to kill, if and when I deemed it necessary."

I feel tears beginning to run down my face, "Carl, I…." I trail off as I feel someone grab my hand, I turn to find a strange man pressing a gun into my palm. The man doesn't make a sound, but something inside of me knows what I am supposed to do.

I look down at the ground for a moment before clicking the safety off, raising the gun as I look back up. The man who was in the chair a few moments ago is gone, instead the chair is occupied by a wide eyed boy in Dauntless black. His sleeve is rolled up and there is fresh looking tattoo of a Dauntless flame on his upper arm. The tattoo that Carl got the night of our first day of initiation.

"What do you think," Carl asks, his voice back to its warm and somewhat innocent tone.

"I…" I can't bring myself to answer him, I feel tears starting to roll down my cheeks. Half of me is telling me that he's a cold blooded killer and half of me sees the boy who was one of my best friends.

The man appears at my side again, giving me a stern look, "Shoot him, he has failed this city and its people."

I feel my grip tighten on the gun but my hands are shaking.

"What's going on, Gabby?" Carl asks, concern filling his eyes.

The man growls, "Do it."

My brain is spinning in twenty different directions and I don't know what to do. I feel my finger move to the trigger, tears rolling down my cheeks. My brain is screaming for me to stop but my hands tighten around the gun, the shaking stops and I aim. I feel my finger pull the trigger and there is a loud bang.

I sit up straight in bed, my eyes burning with unshed tears and my throat tight. I am breathing heavily and I feel like my heart is pounding in my head.

"What's going on?" I hear Eric mumble, his voice somewhere between panicked and groggy. It must be after thee o'clock in the morning because he is back from work. David and the powers that be decided that we needed to start contributing to the running of the Bureau as long as we continue to stay here. They started assigning jobs the day after our wedding. I'm back in the control room, monitoring the city, but I don't mind since it's the only way I can see my family.

After a moment he pulls me to him and I rest my head on his chest. He wraps his arm around me, unable to hold in a yawn before he asks, "The one about Jeanine again?"

"Carl," I whisper back. I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I've been having nightmares for months now. They started off only being about Jeanine and her experiments. They were rare in the beginning, but now it's a nightly occurrence.

The dream about Jeanine is still a fairly regular, but I have also had several horrible dreams about something bad happening to the twins, Eric, or Andrew. Sometimes my parents too.

Ever since his trial and subsequent execution, though, the majority have been about Carl. I couldn't watch his trial. I knew I couldn't handle it, so Eric and I stayed in the dorm all of that day, away from other people. We found a deck of cards, I taught Eric a few games that I learned when I lived here before.

Jeff went to the control room to watch, but he came back halfway through. He didn't tell me what happened, but I could tell from the look on his face and the anger in his green eyes that it had been bad.

Two days after Eric and I got married was Carl's execution. I shouldn't have, but I went to the control room with Jeff to watch. Eric had training for his new job as a guard, so he wasn't there to stop me, or to come along and make sure I left when it became too much.

_When two of Evelyn's minions brought him into the room, I almost don't recognize him. His hair is much longer than I have ever seen it and he has a short beard. They strap him into one the dentist chairs, like the ones used for the aptitude tests. Evelyn stands a few feet away, watching as the former Erudite that she recruited readies the heart rate monitor and injection that will end Carl's life. _

"_Do you have any last words?" She asks, sounding more solemn than I had expected. _

_He laughs, "I have no intention of begging for my life if that is what you mean."_

"_You're ready to die, then?" She replies,, curiosity evident in her voice. _

"_If you truly believe in something, it is worth dying for," He responds. _

_She tilts her head to the side and studies him for a moment, "So you don't have any regrets about what you did for the sake of that cause?" _

"_No, I don't regret any of it," He responds, "I don't regret deceiving those idiots. I don't regret killing that stupid girl. I didn't intend to kill her, but she was foolish enough to get in my way. My only regret is that I didn't kill Eric's little whore and her baby when I had the chance."_

_There is some sort of commotion following this confession, it takes me scanning screens for a minute or two to find one that shows the angle that the main camera doesn't. Andrew is standing at the front of the group of onlookers, looking absolutely furious, and one of the factionless has a gun pointed at him. _

_As I watch, Meghan slips through the crowd and grabs his arm. She says something to him and finally he lets her lead him away, after shooting the factionless man one last dirty look. I'm grateful to Meghan for watching out for my brother since I'm not there. _

_I don't get to keep watching them, Carl's voice brings me back to the main screen that everyone is watching. _

"_This city won't survive, you've broken the only thing that kept it functioning. You aren't only responsible for my death, and the others who will die because of their vision for what this city could have been, you've killed them all. Embraced that which has been threatening the system for so long just to spite those you felt had wronged you, but you've damned this city in the process." He snarls._

_It doesn't seem to faze Evelyn at all, "This city will be fine once people like you are eradicated." With that she looks up, giving the man with the syringe full of purple death serum a nod. _

_He steps toward Carl and the realization that I can't be here for this, I can't watch him die, hits me like a punch to the face. He's done horrible things. He tried to kill me, he hurt Eric, he killed Jess, and he said horrible things about me today. But I can't watch him die. _

"_I can't do this," I whisper, grabbing Jeff's arm to get his attention. He nods and I head back to the dorm, my hands beginning to shake as soon as I get out to the hallway. _

I shiver slightly just thinking about that day.

It takes a while, but I finally start to fall back asleep wrapped in my husband's arms. It's been nine weeks and I still feel my heart flutter a little bit every time I think or say the word husband. I'm still nervous that I'm going to wake up. I mean, my life is far from perfect right now, but I've got so many good things in my life that I wouldn't trade for a carefree life.

The next time my eyes open, the morning sunlight is streaming in through the windows on the other side of the room. I sit up, slowly realizing that I am alone in our bed. I glance around, my eyes landing on the rest of the occupants of the dorm who are all clustered together in a group around the bed in the back left corner. Well, with the exception of Peter and Caleb. Eric is among them though, his arms crossed over his chest and his brow furrowed in the way it does when he is angry.

I climb off of my bed and cross the room, coming to stand between Eric and Jeff, "What's going on?"

"I figured you needed sleep," Eric explains.

Four is standing across from me, "Tris found out some things yesterday that were rather… disturbing."

Tris, most likely due to her mother's history with David and her level of genetic healing, was offered a position on David's council when she is old enough. Part of her training to prepare for such a position is attending all of their meetings. None of us trust David fully so it was a good opportunity to keep an eye on him.

Tobias glances at Tris and she explains, "Like you said when we first got here, they've always had wiping the memories of everyone in the experiment as a contingency plan. Well, it looks like they're preparing to go through with it. The war between the Allegiant and Evelyn is no longer just a possible outcome, it's going to happen very soon."

I cross my arms over my chest, "How much time do we have?"

"Thankfully, the process for getting this scale of a memory wipe approved requires that another government agency sign off on it. This gives us time, but not a lot. Ten days at the most," She replies.

I nod and Four speaks up again, "Tris and Cara found out something even more disturbing though."

Cara looks up when she hears her name, clearly having been lost in thought, "Four was approached awhile back by someone who claimed that the attack simulation serum was given to Jeanine by the Bureau. He didn't trust the person, so he figured it was just a tactic to get him to help them. Tris was able to get a sample of what they claimed was Jeanine's serum, though, and upon examining it under a microscope I did recognize it."

"That can't be right," I say slowly, turning to look at Eric, "You would have known that if it were true, wouldn't you?"

He shakes his head, "Jeanine never told Max or I where it came from. We had no reason to suspect it was engineered by anyone outside of Erudite."

"And it's possible, from what my friend Matthew tells me, that Jeanine, and anyone else involved in its supposed creation, was reset by Bureau employees to think that it was their creation," Tris adds.

"So what's our plan?" Uriah asks as he stands up from the foot of the bed. "We need to stop this for Zeke, Shawna, my mom…."

Eric cuts him off, glancing at me, "Almost all of us have people in the city that we don't want the Bureau to reset. Friends if not family."

Cara nods in agreement, "We need to get the memory serum out of the weapons vault before it can be used, but we don't know enough about the security protocols. What we do know makes it seem rather daunting,"

I can feel the sarcastic comment coming long before his mouth opens. "Hmmm, if only we know someone, or better yet a group of people, who were trained to be… what's the word I'm looking for?" Eric asks, glancing at me again.

I roll my eyes but the smirk finds my lips despite my best efforts, "Dauntless?"

"Yeah, that," He replies.

Four shakes his head, "What we do know about the security system involves poisonous gas. Sending someone in would be a suicide mission."

"So what's plan b?" Christina asks.

"Four and I are going to talk to Matthew today," Tris responds, "I trust him and I think he can help."

Four nods in agreement, although a brief flash of what I suspect is jealousy crosses his face. He looks to me after a moment, "We were hoping you could talk to Alvin and anyone else you feel you can trust here. We can use as much help as possible."

I nod in agreement, "I will, I'm not sure how willing he'll be to help though. He just got back in David's good graces."

Four nods, "Just to be safe, go later so they don't connect us talking to Matthew to you and Alvin. The rest of you need to act like nothing is wrong, we can't afford for suspicion to fall on any of us and risk ruining the entire thing."

Everyone nods in agreement and we break apart. Tris, Christina, and Cara all have work today but the rest of us are free.

I walk over to the bed and grab the baby name book that Celeste gave me, before meeting Eric at the door to head for the cafeteria. We get a tray of food and look for an empty table, away from everyone else.

"I hate trying to act like nothing is wrong when something like this is happening," I whisper as we sit down. "I feel like everyone can see strait through the rouse. Like everyone is staring at me, even when I know that they aren't."

Eric nods in agreement, "I used to feel that way when Jeanine first… recruited me. You have to do your best not to think about it. If it isn't on your mind it won't feel like it's on everyone else's."

"You have a point," I say as I grab a banana from the tray. "Okay then. So, for a girl we had it narrowed down to: Lena, Ella, Alexandra, Alison, Anne, Marie, Regina, Amanda, Jen, or Andrea since it is the feminine version of Andrew. Any of which the middle name would be Jessica or Jess. Then, if the first name is Jessica or Jess we go with one of those as a middle name."

He signs, "I really thought we had narrowed this list down."

"We did," I respond with a chuckle as I scan the list, "We are down to thirteen possible first names, if we count Jessica and Jess as one, from… twenty-five. That's progress."

He shakes his head and smirks, "Okay, we each take our least favorite off the list, and go from there."

"Deal," I reply scanning the list once again, "Alison."

He nods, taking the list from me and crossing Alison off before looking it over, "Lena."

He crosses the name off and hands the list back, "Okay, next least favorite, Marie."

"Really? I figured you would keep that one in the running longer since it's your middle name, and the name of your aunt you didn't know you had."

I shrug, "I mean it wasn't the main reason, but I was looking up name meanings the other night when I couldn't sleep. Marie means 'rebellious woman', I don't think she needs extra motivation to misbehave."

Eric laughs, "Okay, fair enough." He takes the list back and studies it for a moment, taking a bite from his muffin as he examines the list. "Ruth."

"Down to seven," I announce with a smile, "Progress!" I take a bite of my own muffin as I consider the remaining options. It's getting harder now that the list is shrinking. "Amanda."

"Anne."

"Jen."

"Regina."

"Andrea."

"Okay, so that leaves Jessica, Ella, or Alexandra," Eric announces.

"I like all three," I reply. We sit in silence for a few seconds, neither sure of what we want taken off the list. "Okay, which do you like the sound of more, Ella Jessica Nelson or Alexandra Jessica Nelson?"

He doesn't hesitate, "Alexandra."

"Okay, we have a name! One down, one to go!" I say before taking another bite.

He flips the list over, "We still have fifteen possible boy's names."

"You didn't really like the name James to begin with, so lets just take it off," I respond as I open the bottle of water from the tray.

"It's not that I don't like the name, I just associate it with former leader of the Duantless James," I nod in agreement and he crosses it off.

"Same deal for the rest, least favorite name comes off the list," I say.

"Tyler," He replies slowly as if he's thinking about changing his mind, but after a moment he nods and hands the list back.

"George."

"Evan."

"Spencer."

"Jeremy."

"Stephan."

"Jared."

"Christopher."

"Henry."

I pause, the list is getting short again so it is more difficult, "Joshua."

Eric scans the list "A – Reagan."

I chuckle and cross Reagan off the list, "Aiden, Andrew, or Jesse."

"Jesse Andrew Nelson?" He asks after a moment.

"I like it," I respond and he writes the names at the top of the paper.

"Alexandra and Jesse," I say looking down at my stomach and, right on cue, one of them kicks. "I hope that means you like the name," I say with a chuckle.

Eric scoots his chair closer and puts a hand on my stomach, after a moment his hand gets kicked and he smirks. After a moment he yawns and I chuckle, "Let's go back to the dorm so you can take a nap."

He doesn't argue, so we dump our tray head back to the dorm.

When we walk in Jeff is standing next to the door with an impatient look on his face. He smiles at me when I walk in, which is really relieving to see. He has been so quiet and somber since Jess died, it's only been recently that he's began to seem like Jeff again. Same for Uriah. I think that's why Uriah, Jeff, and Christina have bonded. They've all been through similar experiences.

"We're going for a walk because staying here, with everything that's going, on is driving us crazy," Uriah announces as he approaches me. "Want to come?"

"You should go," Eric replies when I glance at him, "I'm just going to sleep so I won't be very good company."

I turn back to the guys, "Okay, let's go."

I'm laughing at something Uriah said when we get to the front lobby, but I stop when I look out the window. I can see the tree branches dancing in the wind and it occurs to me that I should have put on something warmer.

"I forgot my hoody," I say as we get to the sculpture, "I'll g…."

"I'll go get it," Jeff replies before I can finish, "I'm faster than you."

"If we're deciding who goes by speed, I'm the obvious choice," Uriah replies with a smirk. "I can run way faster than you." I laugh and Jeff punches Uriah on the arm.

"I don't care who goes, but someone go so we don't end up standing here all day. It's on the chest at the end of my bed," I say as Uriah rubs his arm overdramatically.

"Got it," Uriah says, quickly turning to run back toward the dorm before Jeff can reply. I laugh again and Jeff smirks.

We walk over to the sculpture so that we're out of the way. The lobby is always crowded this time of the day and it can make you feel claustrophobic.

I grab Jeff's arm as we walk, "What did you get on your shirt?"

He glances down the arm of his grey sweatshirt at the black spot on the back of his arm, "Huh, no clue."

I laugh, "Remind me when we get back, I'll try to get that stain out for you."

"Aw, look at you, all motherly already," He replies with a smirk and I reach forward like I'm about slap his arm. He flinches away and I laugh. "So, have you picked names yet?" He asks before yawning broadly. He takes a couple of steps backward and leans on the wall.

"Jesse for the boy," I reply with a smile, "Jesse Andrew."

He chuckles, "You did say you would name it after her even if it was a boy."

I smirk, "Yes, yes I did. Then the girl is Alexandra Jessica, or Jess, we may decide to shorten it."

He opens his mouth to say something but stops when Uriah's voice interrupts the relative quiet. "I got it, let's go!"

Jeff pushes off from the wall and walks a couple steps behind me as I turn to go meet Uriah, "That was quick! Did Er…"

I am halfway to Uriah when there is a loud explosion. I hear it at the same moment that the force of the explosion tosses me forward. The next thing I know I am on the ground in a puddle of water. The water is cold but I feel something warm running down the side of my head. There are pieces of rubble and glass all around me.

I can't hear anything, but I can tell that people in the distance are yelling by their mouths. The darkness starts to creep in from the edges of my vision. I start to try to roll over, off of my stomach, but I feel so weak.

My eyes find Uriah's figure a few feet away, on the ground too. He is perfectly still for a moment, but then he rolls over and coughs, letting me know he's still alive. His gaze meets mine for a split second just before the darkness overtakes me.

I vaguely register the sound of someone calling my name before I slip all the way into unconsciousness.

**Dun, dun, dun. Can't say I didn't kinda, sorta warn you… **

**I would say let me know what you thought, but I'm concerned that you're all going to kill me. I have the next chapter and a half written but not edited, so I'll update soon. I promise. Just remember that I love you all.**

**If you read my other story Monsters Aren't Born, They are Created it should be updated soon too!**


	15. Chapter 12

**Hello again my lovely readers! I wanted to get this up sooner, but I've had a really awful last couple of days and I'm feeling really down right now. Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter and welcome to everyone who has just started following. As always a big thank you to everyone who reviewed, you have no idea how much better my day becomes when I get a review notification.**

**Olivia-Ivy**** – Glad you like the names! Yes, just focus on that mental image. Things are bound to get better, eventually.**

**534667lc**** – And thank you for reading! :D**

**catch39**** – Yes, it's good they were prepared. Yeah, Uriah is my second favorite character, so saving him was sort of a priority.**

**hazu23**** \- :O**

**Sadly, I still don't own Eric or Divergent.**

**Chapter 12**

**Eric's POV**

I am almost asleep when I hear the door to the dorm open. I look up to find Uriah standing at the foot of the bed. I give him a questioning look and he holds up my sweatshirt.

"It's cold, Gabby wanted this before we go outside. She's waiting in the lobby," He replies.

I nod and he runs off to meet back up with Jeff and Gabby. I lay back down and am once again close to sleep when there is a loud bang. The entire building seems to shake. The mix of the attack alarm blaring and the shouting in the hall that immediately follow has me out of bed in seconds.

I don't bother to put my shoes or shirt back on, I just head for the door. People are hurrying into the nearest office or lab and locking themselves in, as they've been taught to do. Some seem panicked and others seem to be treating this like another routine drill.

I hear the click of a walkie-talkie followed by static. I turn and my eyes land on one of the guards I have worked with before. Jim? John? Something with a J; I really don't care enough at the moment to try to remember.

"What's going on?" I ask once I have reached the spot where he is leaning against the wall.

He doesn't answer me right away, he is too focused on the walkie, "Marshal? Come in Marshal, can you hear me?" He looks away from the black device and finally seems to notice me. "Marshal was saying something about a problem up by the lobby, but then he got cut off mid-sentence, right about the time of the explosion."

I don't stay to hear if he knows anything else or to see if he is headed this way too. All I know is that Uriah said she was in the lobby, even if they went outside they would have still been close by.

I try to stay calm, not wanting to assume the worst, but I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am halfway there when an older guard steps out in front of me.

"Go find a room and lock yourself in, you know the procedure," He orders sternly.

I move to walk around him, but he side-steps in front of me, "I'm a guard too, I need to get to the lobby."

"You very well may be, but unless you're currently on duty go find a room and lock the door. The last thing we need is you getting in our way, you're not even wearing shoes," He replies.

"My wife was in the lobby, I'm not locking myself anywhere until I find her," I reply before pushing past him.

I get a couple of steps past him when he grabs my arm, "I'll check with the guards in the lobby if you give me her name and a description, but you need to go b…"

Every minute I waist talking to this man is a minute that she could be on the ground dying. I don't think, I just turn and swing. My fist connects with his jaw and he stumbles backward, clearly caught off guard. I take advantage of his slow reaction time to run for the lobby.

I make it into the lobby but I see a pair of armed guards coming my way as soon as they see me. There is a large hole blown in the wall behind the statue, or at least where the statue was. The glass that held the water above the block must have shattered in the explosion, the floor is wet and covered in shards of glass. More disturbing, though, is the fact that the water is tinted red by blood. There are what appear to be several bodies lined up near the far wall, a guard is covering them with dark sheets of cloth. There are still several people who look like they suffered minor injuries standing around and talking to guards. I don't recognize any of them though.

I am preparing for an argument with the guards, they are only a few feet away now, but I happen to catch sight of a familiar figure so I start toward him. "Four!"

He is at the mouth of one of the other hallways that leads out into the lobby, talking to another armed guard who must have stopped him. "Have you seen Gabby?" I ask once I am close.

He shakes his head, "I just got up here too."

"Like I was saying," The guard begins again before I can respond. "You both need to turn around and head back to wherever you were before. We'll get information out to everyone once we know what happened."

"I don't care what happened," I reply quickly, "My pregnant wife was up here when it happened. All I want is…"

I trail off as the look on the guards face goes from stern to sickened, I can see it in his eyes before he speaks that he knows where she is. "Shawn!" He yells over his shoulder.

A younger man hurries over, "Take this man to the infirmary, let them know he's the pregnant girl's husband."

"Why is she in the infirmary?" I ask. It's a stupid question, but part of me is desperately hoping that he'll say that she sprained her ankle or something else that can be easily mended.

"She was fairly close to the wall when it… she was pretty badly hurt," He replies slowly, clearly uncomfortable being the one who tells me this. "She was unconscious when they took her out of here."

"Oh god," I hear Four mumble.

I give the younger guard a look and he quickly turns to show me to the infirmary. We are almost out of the lobby when I hear a commotion behind us. Both Shawn and I turn to see several armed guards leading three people in handcuffs toward us. There are two men and a woman, all three look like someone has beat the crap out of them. If I wasn't in such a hurry to get to Gabby I would definitely contribute to their suffering.

As they walk past I feel my hands tightening into fists. This is their fault. If Gabby or the twins don't make it I swear that I will make sure that they don't either, even if it kills me. As we start back toward the infirmary I hear Tris and David's voices, followed by Four's relieved voice as he calls to his girlfriend.

I don't look back, I need to get to Gabby. The walk to the infirmary feels like it takes twice as long as normal. When we get to the area where the infirmary is the halls are crowded with doctors and nurses trying to take care of multiple patients at once. There are some people with very minor looking injuries who are standing back and waiting. There are gurneys set up outside of some of their rooms, people with mildly more serious looking injuries are laying on them. I'm guessing that the ones in the rooms are the ones who are in really rough shape.

"Stay here," Shawn instructs, "I'll go find out what room she's in or at least get her doctor to come and talk to you."

I nod and he hurries off, disappearing into the crowd. I don't want to stand around while she could be somewhere in this wing dying, but I know that in this pandemonium I'm better off waiting.

I lean against the closest wall, staring down at my shoes as I wait. I've been waiting for about five minutes when I hear Christina's voice down the hall. I look up to see her, Four, and Tris walking my way.

"Have they said anything yet," Four asks.

I shake my head no and have just looked back at my shoes when something occurs to me. I look at Four, "Did you see Uriah or Jeff in the lobby?"

"No, why?" He asks, giving Tris a look.

"She was with them right before the explosion," I reply, before glancing back down the hall to see if Shawn is headed my way yet.

"Oh god," I hear Christina say under her breath, "I'm going to go find someone to ask about them."

She hurries off and the three of us are left stand in silence for a few more minutes. I am staring at the ground again when I hear Four clear his throat. I look up to see Celeste walking my way. She looks exhausted and I wonder how long she had been here before all this happened.

"How is she?" I ask once she is close enough to hear me over everyone else's chatter.

She takes a deep breath and I brace myself for the worst. "She's pretty banged up, if she weren't pregnant we would consider her injuries fairly minor, but with the twins it changes everything." She takes another deep breath and wipes her brow with the back of her hand. "The trauma to her abdomen seems to have caused a placental abruption."

I am feeling completely numb, I think Four realizes because he jumps in to ask the question I know I should. "What does that mean?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It means that the placenta has partially or completely separated from the uterine wall. It can lead to the baby not getting enough oxygen and also to bleeding that can be deadly for the baby and mother." She pauses and looks at me seriously, "I know you wouldn't want me to sugar coat this, so I won't. This is bad, Eric; the babies are both in obvious distress and Gabby is showing signs of going into shock. The only hope to save them is to do an emergency c-section."

"Okay, whatever it takes," I hear myself say. I hate feeling weak, especially around other people. This is completely out of my control, I'm totally helpless and it's worse than anything else I've ever felt. "Can I see her?"

She shakes her head, "We have to hurry and get her into surgery. They're prepping her now. If this was a normal c-section I would let you come in and be with her, but we need to get this done before it gets worse."

I don't respond, I don't know what I would say. Four nods to her and she rushes off, back into the sea of people. I take a few shallow breaths, trying to ward off the panic and anger I feel bubbling up inside of me. I hear myself growl, right before I turn and slam my fist into the wall. When I pull my hand back my knuckles are bleeding and throbbing, there is fist sized crater in the wall.

Neither Four nor Tris say anything about it. I lean back against the wall, tilting my head up for a moment, staring at the ceiling. I can't lose her again. I can't lose the helpless little blobs that I've watched get bigger with each ultrasound. I promised I would protect them.

I am still staring up at the ceiling when I hear Christina's voice again, "Uriah is okay, he's- he's pretty banged up and he's got a couple broken ribs; he'll be okay though. But…" She trails off and I can tell without looking at her that she is crying.

"What's wrong? What happened?" I hear Tris ask. She sounds like she is trying to sound calm, but her tone is tinged with concern.

It's silent for a moment except for Christina sniffling. "Jeff's dead," She finally manages.

I look down at her for the first time. Jeff was one of the least annoying and aggravating people in our group. Sure we'd had our moments where I wanted to kill him, especially when he was unnecessarily touching Gabby during their initiation, but he was a good guy. Even if I had hated him, though, Gabby cared about him. She was going to be crushed.

_If she lives_, the voice in the back of my head reminds me and I feel my hands tighten into fists again. I lean my head back so that it is resting on the wall behind me again and take another deep breath.

Our group falls back into a tense silence for a couple of minutes until a voice breaks the silence. "Hey, there you guys are."

I look back down the hall to see Uriah hobbling toward us, a nurse not far behind, angrily telling him he needs to lay back down.

"Uriah," Christina says as she rushes forward to hug him. He grimaces and she pulls back quickly. "Sorry," She replies, looking him over. He's only got a couple of cuts on his face and arms, but he looks pretty miserable. I'm sure it's mostly internal injuries and bruises that won't show up quite yet.

"I told you I'd lay back down when I find out what happened to my friends," He tells the nurse, she rolls her eyes. Typical stubborn Dauntless, refusing to stay down when he should. He turns back and looks from Tris to Christina, his gaze finally meeting mine.

"That bad?" He asks slowly, his usual cheerful demeanor completely gone.

Christina takes a deep breath and he turns back to her, "Jeff… didn't make it."

He takes in a sharp breath and braces himself against the wall. "Oh god," He says, his eyes unfocused for a moment as he thinks. "It's my fault."

"What?" Four asks, an incredulous look on his face. "Don't be an idiot, you didn't bomb the building."

Uriah shakes his head, "He offered to go back and get Gabby's sweatshirt for her, I teased him about being slow and I went to get it."

"It's still not…" Four begins but Uriah shakes his head.

"He would have been where I was if he had gone, not over by the wall." He pauses and shakes his head again.

"Yeah, you would be dead and he would be standing here saying the same thing about you," Four replies sharply.

Uriah seems to give in, but I can see it in his eyes that he doesn't agree with Four. Uriah takes a deep breath and changes the subject, "What about Gabby? She was like halfway between Jeff and I when it happened."

Everyone glances at me, I clear my throat, "She's in emergency surgery now."

"Did you get to see her?" He asks. I shake my head no and he nods, "She lost consciousness a couple minutes after the blast." I must give him a look because he continues, "When I looked around after the blast, she was a few feet away. She stared at me for a few seconds and then she passed out."

I cross my arms more tightly over my chest. Halfway between Jeff and Uriah. Halfway between life and death.

"Okay, you found out, now you need to lay down," The nurse interrupts.

"Come on, I'll go with you," Christina says, walking with Uriah back around the corner that he appeared from.

After a moment Tris glances between the two of us, like she is trying to decide something, "I'm going to go with them for a while too." She disappears around the corner and I glance at Four, waiting for him to walk off too. He doesn't.

I slide down the wall and sit on the floor. I hate waiting. I find myself hoping desperately that this is just a horrible nightmare. It all just seems so surreal. An hour and a half ago Gabby and I were sitting at a table discussing baby names, and now…

I stare at the wall straight ahead, silently wondering if it's possible to survive losing her again. I keep waiting for Four to leave, but after another ten minutes or so he walks to the other side of the hallway and sits against the other wall.

"What, you afraid if you leave me alone I'll kill someone?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "No, I think your anger is justified in this situation."

"Then why are you still here?" I ask, resting the back of my head on the wall.

He shrugs, "It's what you do for friends."

I feel myself let out a snort. "So we're friends now, are we?" I ask sarcastically.

"No," He replies without missing a beat, a fake look of disgust on his face. After a moment he smirks, "Gabby and I are, though."

I chuckle before glancing back down the hall, hoping to catch sight of Celeste. I don't have any luck spotting her though.

"I almost went down a bad path," Four says after a while, his tone much more serious. "She stopped me." I look back at him curiously and he clears his throat, "I think the people who did this are the same ones who tried to recruit me right after we got here."

"What?" I ask, a mixture of curiosity and fury building inside of me.

"This girl who works here took me to meet some friends of hers at the fringe. They said that decisive action needed to be taken against the Bureau. They wanted something from the weapons vault," He pauses as someone walks between us. Once they are far enough away he continues, "Tris said that the people who blew up the wall in the lobby were trying to force David to let them into the weapons vault."

I think this new information over for a moments, having to remind myself several times that I can't go kill them right now. Maybe later though. "What does that have to do with Gabby?" I ask, studying the former Abnegation man across from me.

"When Nita first asked me to meet with her, I was really upset about something," He starts. I remember my conversation with Tris from right after we got here. I nod and he continues, "Gabby and I ran into each other and we ended up talking about it. I still met Nita and went with her to the fringe, but I wasn't as angry about it as I had been. I didn't agree to help them." He takes a deep breath, "I don't know what I would have done if I had. If I had Jeff or Uriah's death on my conscious. Or Gabby. All these other people too. It would have destroyed me."

I nod, understanding what he means. I look back down the hall for a moment before looking back at my feet. "All it takes is one wrong choice, once you've done it you can't go back."

Four is quiet for a moment before he speaks next, "Why did you start working with Jeanine?"

I take a deep breath. I don't want to have this conversation with anyone right now, least of all Four. I know that my reasons don't make up for what I've done, and I don't want anyone to think that I believe they do. Plus feelings have never been my strong suit. Yet I still find myself beginning to answer him.

"Jeanine called me to her office the night before the choosing ceremony. She told me that I had to go to Dauntless and come in first during initiation by any means necessary," I pause and he gives me a curious look. "She said that I would get offered the leadership position if I did and that she would have a new assignment after that. If I failed, she would hurt anyone I left behind."

"Including Gabby," Four supplies and I nod.

"Turns out the Jeanine knew that there was something between us," I continue. "She sent Carl here with Gabby to make sure that she didn't change my mind about working toward taking Abnegation down. Apparently, he had orders to kill her if she became a distraction or if he felt her dying would motivate me to work with Jeanine more." I chuckle bitterly, "In the end that's exactly what happened, only it wasn't by Carl or Jeanine's doing."

Four opens his mouth to reply, but the sound of a commotion down the hall gets our attention. I don't hear the entire conversation, but what I do hear sends a chill down my spine and I'm fair certain that my heart stops beating.

"We're losing her."

**So, let me know what you think will happen. I'll update again soon! Talk to you all again soon.  
**


	16. Chapter 13

**Sorry this took so long to get up! I meant for it to be up like two days after the last one but everything's been crazy. My grandmother is in the hospital again and I've been feeling really crappy, the last two weeks have been really awful.**

**Welcome to everyone who is new, several of you have just started following in the last couple of days, so hi! As always, thank you to these lovely people for leaving a review:**

**Olivia-Ivy**** – Where's the fun in that? ;) But seriously, I assure you these last few chapters have been equally painful to write as they were to read. Gabby was 13 weeks when they got to the Bureau, then we jumped forward 7 weeks (to when they got married and found out the gender of the babies) and then jumped again 9 weeks. So she's about 29 ½ weeks now. After 28 weeks, with current medical advancements, 90% of babies are able to survive on their own. Plus, since the series takes place in the future, despite the war leaving a lot of the country in ruins, I am expecting that some medical advancement has been made, especially by this particular group. I spent a lot of time doing research lol, if anyone who doesn't know about my writing (98% of the people in my life) went through my internet history from the last two months it would to lead to some interesting conversations…**

**catch39**** – Wellllll…. I guess we'll just have to see…**

**morbidly-funny**** – Thank you! Hope you like this chapter too**

**I still don't own Eric or Divergent.**

**Chapter 13**

**Eric's POV**

"We're losing her…. We need Doctor Paulson in the OR." The male nurse says to an overly stressed looking younger nurse. "It's urgent," He adds and she gives him a quick nod before he turn to rush back to the operating room.

I'm on my feet in seconds and I find myself running after the nurse as he rushes back down the hall. I have to push people out of my way in the crowded hallway to keep up. I've never really cared about being polite, but I could not possibly care any less about being polite at this particular moment. Four must be following me, I hear him mumble something to a couple of disgruntled patients as he fights his way through the maze of people, but I don't look back.

The nurse disappears into a room with swinging double doors. I don't stop when my hand is on the door, I can't consider what I might be walking into. When I open the door, the room is in a frenzy. There are three clusters of people, the largest around an operating table and two smaller groups gathered around a pair of what look like wheeled tables with a covered chamber on top of each. No one seems to notice me, they're all concentrating on my family as I move closer.

I pause when I can see into the first cart, there is a tiny baby inside. It's the smallest baby I've ever seen. I can't tell from here if it's Alexandra or Jesse. The baby makes a sound that is similar to a cry but much weaker. Just enough to let me know that he or she is alive. I turn to the other cart, this baby doesn't look like it's doing as well. I can tell from back here that it's not breathing at all. I feel my heart pounding in my head as I watch.

"Come on, little guy," I hear one of the nurses say softly.

Jesse.

After a few moments one of the machines makes a noise and the nurse smiles very briefly, "There we go." She pushes a few buttons and then looks back at my son, "You're a little fighter."

I am about to move closer when the sound of a heart rate monitor catches my attention. I hadn't noticed it before, I turn and follow the wires. It's hooked up to Gabby. Her heart rate is slow, far slower than it should be, but she's still alive.

One of the doctors moves and I get a good look at her face for the first time. She is pale, way too pale; she almost looks like she isn't real. Her skin is shinny from sweat and there is a bandage wrapped around her forehead. Someone pulled her hair into a cap to get it out of the way, but they were clearly in a rush because a few strands are hanging out. What I can see has dried blood matter in it.

"Eric?" I glance to my left to see Celeste walking toward me. She has a cap covering her hair, a surgical gown, and blue gloves. I only know it's her because the mask that would have been covering her mouth and nose is pulled down to her chin. She gives me a look that is very easy to read as pity, "I'm sorry, I really am, but you can't be in here."

"I can't leave them," I reply taking a step toward Gabby.

She shakes her head and grabs my arm, "You can't be in here." I try to take another step forward and she tightens her grip on my shirt. When I look back at her, her face is suddenly very stern, "Eric." Her voice reminds me of a teacher rebuking an unruly student, "I know you want to stay with her, and I'll make sure they let you stay right outside of the door if you want, but I can't save her if I'm busy arguing with you."

I take a step backward and she nods to someone behind me. I feel someone tug on my arm, I turn to find a nurse. I let her lead me to the door, feeling completely numb suddenly. Just before I open the door to go back out I feel her pat my arm gently.

"Hang in there," She says softly, "We'll do everything we can."

I nod and walk back into the hall, letting the door swing shut behind me. Four is leaning against the wall, bighting at one of his nails like he's done when he's nervous for as long as I've known him. He raises an eyebrow, silently asking me what happened.

I shake my head slowly, moving to sit on the floor a couple feet away from him. "They're all three alive, barely, but still alive." He doesn't say anything, he just sits down.

We sit there, watching as nurses and doctors come and go, for what feels like an eternity. Eventually, Tris and Christina come to find Four, apparently they were kicked out of Uriah's room because he needed rest. They stand around for a few minutes before Tris speaks again.

"I think we're going to go get food, are you coming Tobias?" She asks.

The door to the operating room opens again just as soon as Tris has finished asking the question. This time the person doesn't hurry past, the nurse scans our faces for a moment, mostly Four and I. "Which one of you is Eric?"

I lift up a hand slowly, studying her face as her eyes land on me again. This time her gaze doesn't move away, "Celeste wanted me to come out and get you. She pulled through. It was touch and go for a while there, but she is stable now."

"What about the twins?" I ask slowly, not sure that I want to hear her answer.

After a second she gives me a small smile, "They've got them stabilized too, for the moment at least. These next few hours will be very telling. If they stay stabilized, we should be able to help them finish developing until they are strong enough to go home. They'll be here for a couple of months, at least, though."

I take a deep breath, for the first time in hours I feel like I can actually breathe. I look up at the ceiling for a couple more breaths, leaning my head against the wall. "Can I see them now?"

"They moved the twins and your wife out through the other door," She says with a nod. "I can take you to her room now. They have the twins in another room for now so that a nurse can monitor them constantly. They should be able to let you at least go in to see them in a little bit."

I nod and push myself up from the floor, following the woman through the halls and to the door of a room in a section of the infirmary that seems to have quieted down. She opens the door and motions for me to enter, softly reminding me that someone will be nearby if I need anything.

The room is fairly dark, the only light is from a light mounted on the wall above the bed, all the others are off. I walk closer to the bed until I can see her face in the pale light. Someone has cleaned up her face and hair, they also seem to have pulled her hair back into a ponytail to keep it away from her face.

She's still terrifyingly pale, but as I watch her heart rate on the monitor it seems much more stable. I grab a chair from the corner and move it as quietly as possible to the side of her bed. I sit down, resting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

*** insert the 9****th**** Doctor yelling "everybody lives!" * … well, for now anyway. ;) Leave me a review if you have a moment, let me know what you thought and what you think will happen next. I promise it won't take as long to get the next chapter up, editing this has gotten me back into writing mode. You guys can also always come say hi on tumblr (link's in my profile, my name over there is the same as here) I post bonus stuff and updates on when how writing is going ****(and, let's be honest, a lot of pictures of Jai Courtney's face)****. Feel free to yell at me if I'm taking too long to update.  
**

**If you read my other story 'Monsters aren't Born, They are Created' I should have a new chapter up soon. Sorry for the wait.**


	17. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone! I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this up. Everything has been insane; my health has been horrific, my grandmother, life in general. I was having horrible writer's block, like I had been on the same paragraph for weeks, but then last night it was suddenly so much better. So while I had the inspiration, I just wrote as much as I possibly could and next thing I knew, it was over. I finished writing the last four chapters and the epilogue.**

**I'm not going to post it all right now, but I will over the next week and a half, depending on how qquickly I can edit it all and what not. Thank you guys for being patient with me.**

**hazu23**** – =(**

**Breab**** – I'm happy they're all alive, that wasn't the original plan, but it's what happened. And sort of, not perfectly for how I picture her, but I usually use Zoey Deutch**

**Olivia-Ivy**** – Yeah, they are really small! My mom's best friend works in the maternity ward of the hospital, so I have a lot of memories of my mom going by to say hi and me watching the babies through the window. And yay for no one dying and for doctor who!**

**Guest – Thank you, she's a little better now.**

**catch39**** – I completely agree**

**Tdumble**** – (80****th**** review, whoot whoot) Thank you so much! Your review made my day when I got it. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. It always makes me happy when I find people who love him too ;) It's late but I hope your exam went well!**

**ViktorijaBoljesic**** – Aww, thank you! I'm glad that you like the series and that you don't hate me for all the angst. I promised myself when I started this story that I was going to see it through, and I actually did. It's an amazing feeling. Yeah, I held it together until I wrote the last line of the final chapter, and then I lost it. Hope you like these last few chapters!**

**TheMuffinGirl31**** – That's actually makes me feel really good that I was able to bring you to the dark side ;) Well, at least change the way you look at him. Thank you! I hope you enjoy these last few chapters as well and sorry it took so long.**

**I still don't own Eric and The Divergent series.**

**Chapter 14**

**Gabby's POV**

The first thing I become aware of as I regain consciousness is a dull achy pain in my stomach. Following closely behind is a similar pain in my head and a much sharper pain on the left side of my forehead. I open my eyes slowly, finding myself in a dark room, the only light is coming from under the door and a little through the closed blinds. I move my hands around slowly, searching for Eric in the darkness. He is not on either side of me and it only takes me a moment to realize that this bed is much thinner than ours.

As I start to sit up the ache in my stomach intensifies immediately and turns into a sharp, burning pain. I'm not expecting it and I can't help letting out a little cry of pain. The yelp is immediately met by the sound of someone moving to my left.

"It's okay, don't move," Eric's deep voice cuts through the darkness. I feel his hand on my shoulder, followed by what sounds like him feeling around for something behind me. After a moment a light above my head clicks on and I find myself in a hospital room. "Lay back down," Eric instructs, moving into my field of vision.

His grey eyes are red from lack of sleep, there are dark bags underneath. His hair is a mess and his clothes are wrinkled. He looks like he's been through hell. "What's going on?" I try to ask, but my voice comes out as little more than a croak. I try to clear my throat but my mouth and throat are too dry.

He still has concern clouding his dark eyes, but he looks really relived at the moment. He grabs a cup from a stand next to the bed and holds it for me to take a drink before setting it back down. "There was an attack," He begins, studying my face for a moment, "The people responsible blew up the wall in the lobby behind the sculpture."

It comes back to me suddenly. I remember standing by the wall and talking to Jeff. I remember Uriah calling me, holding Eric's sweatshirt. I remember starting to walk to meet him, and I remember hitting the ground. Oh god. I remember landing on my stomach, I remember the pain in my stomach before I blacked out.

I feel panic swelling up inside of me, tears filling my eyes. "The twins?" I hear myself ask, although I'm terrified of his answer.

Eric stares at me for a moment before nodding, "They had to perform an emergency C-section. They're both alive. They have to have them on oxygen and they'll need constant monitoring for a while. It will be a couple of months before we can move them, but they're alive."

My stomach drops and I find myself caught in a whirlwind of confusion, panic, and anger. I try to blink back the tears as I to sit up again, doing my best to try to ignore the pain. I don't care about that now, all I know is that I can't be stuck in this bed when my babies are in another room struggling to survive. "Where are they?"

Eric places a hand on each of my shoulders, gently pushing me back toward the bed. "You need to lay down, Gidg," He says softly as one of the monitors on the other side of the bed starts to beep furiously.

"I have to see them, Eric. I…" I trail off as a sharp pain shoots through my abdomen and I let out another whimper. I stop moving and the tears break free, running down my cheeks, "I ca… can't just lay her while they're…" I can't get the rest of the sentence out through the sobbing. Eric sits on the edge of the bed and pulls me into his arms as best as e can without hurting me.

The door opens, I manage to hear the sound of someone walking in through my sobs and frantic gasps for air. I can't stop now, I try to calm down but it only makes me hyperventilate more. I don't hear the other person say anything at first, but they must give Eric a look because I hear him say something about me wanting to see the twins as he rubs small circles on my upper back.

I feel someone squeeze my shoulder lightly, "They're in good hands, and I promise I'll wheel you over to see them as soon as you're up to it, Sweetie. But for now, I need you to calm down." The woman's voice is kind and sincere.

"I have… to see," I manage to get out between gasps for air, but I can't get it out before I start sobbing again. I need to be with them, it's like a magnetic pull.

I'm starting to feel light headed from the lack of air. My head is swimming, I can't think straight anymore. I try to get up again but Eric's hold is too tight. I hear him mumble something into my hair, but I can't understand it. I try to push him away again. "They need me, Eric," but I don't think anyone but me has any idea what I'm saying anymore.

I hear the nurse say something to Eric, there are a few other sounds that I can't place through the hysteria and then everything begins to feel warm. My muscles all get very heavy all of a sudden and my mind starts to slow down. The last thing I hear is Eric whisper, "It's going be okay," and then everything fades away.

The next time I open my eyes the room is much brighter. The blinds are open, letting in the afternoon sunlight. I blink a couple of times, trying to adjust to the brighter light. My mind feels sluggish and I'm mildly confused about what's happening. I turn my head to find Eric slumped in an uncomfortable looking chair next to the bed, his neck bent in an unnatural angle to support his head while he sleeps.

It takes me a few moments to understand what happened; the nurse must have sedated me because I couldn't calm down. I lay my head back on the pillow and try to blink back the tears that are threatening to fall. It's nothing like last time, just a few tears rolling from my eyes down the sides of my face. I have only been awake for a couple of minutes when I accidentally let out a sniffle and Eric snaps back to attention.

"Hey," He says as he rubs his eyes, "You're up."

"Yeah," I reply softly, wiping away the tears with my right hand and reaching for his hand with my left. His knuckles are bruised and split in a couple of places, I rub the pad of my thumb over them softly before looking back from his hand to his face "I'm sorry."

He chuckles, "What do you have to be sorry for? Some idiots blast a hole in the wall and almost kill you, and you're apologizing?"

"Everything," I say softly. "I should have just stayed and taken a nap with you, then none of this would have happened. And for freaking out, I mean after all that you've been through, you…"

He cuts me off, squeezing my hand, "It's not your fault. And don't worry, I got to freak out before you woke up, it was your turn." I try to chuckle but I can't seem to, so I settle for squeezing his hand. He stands up, slowly leaning forward and presses his lips to my forehead. He leaves his head there, resting against mine for a few moments.

"Have you seen them yet?" I ask softly when he pulls away.

He shakes his head, "Only for a few seconds right after they were born, before I got kicked out of the operating room." His eyes gloss over for a moment, like he is remembering something, but he shakes it off after a second. "They're so small," He says slowly, "But they're already fighters. I mean, I'm their dad, so of course they're strong, but…"

He trails off and I feel myself smile slightly, despite the fresh tears that form in my eyes. I am blinking away the tears when something occurs to me. "How are Uriah and Jeff?" I remember seeing Uriah right before I passed out, but I didn't see Jeff.

The look on his face fills me with dread before I can even finish asking the question. "Uriah's okay, in a lot of pain and pretty bruised up but," He starts, and in that moment I know what he is about to say. "Jeff is dead," He pauses, studying me for a moment before deciding to continue, "I guess it was pretty instant, so he didn't suffer."

I feel the tears filling my eyes again, I bite my lip to keep it from trembling. "Why?" I hear myself choke out, "Why did they attack?"

Eric shrugs and lets out a sigh, "They haven't said, but Four thinks that it was a group of GD's that tried to recruit him when we first got here."

I can't hold the tears back any longer, so I let them fall. This time is different, I'm not panicking or hysterically sobbing, I'm just overwhelmingly sad. It pains me to think about my son and daughter, all the pain they've already had to endure in their short little lives. I already miss Jeff. The first friend I made after I defected from Erudite. The boy who made sure I got up on time for training. The boy who used to banter with Jess during training. The boy who had survived her loss, who had just been beginning to get back to living his life. But now he's gone

Eric sits on the edge of the bed and I scoot over enough for him to lay next to me. I cry into his shirt until I can't cry anymore. Eventually he falls asleep again and I listen to the sound of him breathing until I fall asleep too.

The sound of the door opening brings me back to consciousness. I feel like I've just closed my eyes a few minutes ago, but when I open my eyes and glance at the clock I realize that I've been asleep for a couple of hours. I lift my head up slowly, just enough to see who's there.

"Hey," Alvin says softly as he walks in. He moves to my side of the bed and I can tell from the look on his face that I must look as bad as I feel. "How are the kids?"

I bite my lower lip and tilt my head to the side a little, "Alive."

He nods sadly and reaches out to squeeze my shoulder, "How are you feeling?"

I take a deep breath and shake my head, "Like I've been tossed around like a rag doll and then stabbed in the stomach."

He nods and gives me a small smirk, "So not too bad then?"

"Yeah," I reply as I try to pull myself up into a sitting position but the movement sends a sharp pain through my stomach. I let out a whimper and Eric quickly moves to help me. I hadn't even realized that he was awake, although I suppose it doesn't surprise me since he's not a very heavy sleeper.

"Hey," I whisper as he moves my pillows so that I can sit up.

Once He has me settled he climbs off of the bed and flops back into his chair. "What are they saying about all of this out there?" He asks as he fixes his gaze on Alvin.

"They aren't really telling people much, but it's pretty obvious what happened. A group of GDs sick of David and the rest of the Bureau making them feel like freaks." Alvin pauses for a moment, lowering his voice, "That's actually half of why I'm here. I wanted to check on Gabby and the twins, but I also wanted to talk to you, Eric."

"About what?" Eric ask slowly.

"I'd heard that David is trying to get approval to wipe the entire city of Chicago and restart the experiment. I wasn't planning to offer my services after what happened last time, but I've heard some things… I want to help." Alvin takes a deep breath, "I figured that you two had enough on your plate, so I went to Four." He pauses again, glancing around cautiously before lowering his voice a little bit more, "We are all going to meet down in the basement in a few minutes and Four wanted me to bring Eric."

I nod and glance at Eric, "That's a good idea. We only had ten days before the attack, if that has sped things up we are going to need to act now. I'm out of commission here, but you could still help."

Eric considers this for a moment, "We also have more factors to consider now. The twins can't be moved yet, so we have to make sure that our end game includes making sure that they still get the attention they need."

"Absolutely, we can't risk anything happening to them. You definitely need to go to this meeting," I agree. I think for a moment, "I also think that we need to have a plan b in case the weapon's vault plan fails. I can't lose anyone else. My family, Zeke, Justin, and Meghan would be gone if we failed to get into the vault."

Alvin clears his throat, "That's actually part of what I was going to suggest. We could send a team into the city to inoculate people that you guys have left behind so that they won't lose their memories, just in case something goes wrong. I should be able to get us in."

"If a group goes in and plans to come back, I wouldn't complain if you guys brought Andrew back with you. I…" I trail off, not wanting to ask too much but also deep down knowing that I need my brother right now. Eric is my rock and I need him more than anyone, but I also don't want to put all of my worries and panic on him when he's dealing with everything I am too.

Eric stands up, squeezing my hand briefly, just long enough to let me know that he understands what I mean. "Okay, let's go," Alvin nods and stands too. "Are you sure you're okay being here alone?"

I nod, "I'll be okay, don't worry about me."

He studies me for a moment before nodding, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

As the pair head toward the door, it opens and a pretty young nurse walks in. She studies me for a moment before glancing at Eric and giving him a smile. He nods at her before following Alvin out the door.

"I told your husband we would do the best we could to save you and the babies when I walked him out of the operating room," She explains as she studies the machine monitoring my vitals. She types something into the tablet she's carrying and then sets it on the little counter along the wall. She comes back over and smiles at me, "I'm glad to see that we seem to have succeeded. I'm Alice, I'll be your nurse for the evening, Gabriella."

She's very young, I don't remember meeting her when I lived here before I went back into the city so she must have just started working for the Bureau recently. "Nice to meet you, and you can call me Gabby," I reply with a small smile. "Can I go to see my twins yet?"

She studies me for a moment, "You're still pretty weak, but I might be able to wheel you down there later when your husband gets back." She smiles at me again, "I went in to see them before my shift started. They're both doing really well so far, especially considering how traumatic their delivery was."

I nod, and give her a smile, "I still can't believe all of this. I keep hoping that it's all just a horrible nightmare."

She nods in agreement, "I can imagine, that's a lot to take in." She pauses for a moment before seeming to remember something, "I'll be right back." She disappears out the door for a moment before reappearing with a couple of papers, "I almost forgot, you were asleep when I came to bring these to you the first time. I need you to fill them out so that we can get the baby's records started, and so that you can officially name them." She hands me the papers with a smile, "You don't have to fill them out right now, you can wait for Eric. Since they were so early I understand if you need to finish picking names."

I let out a small chuckle, "Ironically enough, we had just finished deciding on names right before the attack."

She gives me a curious look, "That's good, I can stop referring to them as 'the twins' or 'baby one' and 'baby two'."

I chuckle again, "Yeah, I think Alexandra and Jesse sound a little better than baby one and two."

"Aww, Jesse after your friend, right?" She asks, her smile fades for a moment like she is afraid that mentioning Jess will upset me or that I will be creeped out by her mentioning things from my past when we only met five minutes ago. I smile and nod, her smile returns as she grabs her tablet off of the counter. "I have other patients to check on, but you can buzz if you need anything. Do you want me to bring you something to eat? Or a drink?"

"That won't be necessary," A voice answers from over Alice's shoulder. Uriah appears, a tray in his hand loaded with food. He is limping slightly, there are a few cuts and bruises on his face and arms, but otherwise he looks alright. "I wasn't sure what you would feel up to eating. I got you a burger and fries, but I also grabbed some fruit if you don't want anything greasy. Then I thought that you might be nauseous, so I grabbed crackers and apple sauce. And I also grabbed cake, they had chocolate cake and who am I to pass up an opportunity to eat cake. I figured I'll eat whatever you don't."

Alice laughs, "Well it seems like you're taken care of, but let me know if you need anything." I nod and she starts toward the door.

"That's a lot of food," I note as Uriah pull's Eric's chair closer to the bed. Once Alice has shut the door behind her and a couple of seconds have passed I glance at my friend, "Why aren't you at the meeting?"

"I already know what my job is going to be," He replies quietly, "I'm going with the group that's headed back into the city. I need to make sure that Zeke, Shawna, and my mom get the anti-memory loss serum." He grabs a fry from the tray, "I figured my time was better spent keeping you entertained."

I grab a strawberry off of the tray and nod in agreement. "So we're splitting into two groups then?"

"Yeah, one group here to take on the vault and make sure you and the kids are protected. The other group is heading into the city to make sure all of our families don't lose their memories incase the weapons vault plan fails. Four wants to try to stop the war between his parents from escalating too."

"Sounds good to me," I reply as I grab a fry from the tray. I study him for a moment while I chew, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," He says with a smirk. Typical Uriah, making a joke when I can clearly see the pain in his eyes. "Oh and I'm glad you're okay too," He adds.

Neither of us say it, but I can tell that we are both thinking about Jeff. Silently wondering if it's our fault. If I hadn't stopped in the lobby because I decided that I wanted my sweater, would he be alive? If he had been the one to go back for my sweater would he be sitting here? I'm pretty sure that we both logically know that it isn't our fault, but the feeling is still there, hiding in both of our eyes.

After a moment he clears his throat, "Are you going to eat this cake? I mean you don't need to, I will totally understand if you don't want any."

**Like I said up at the top I'll be posting the last few chapters this week. I hope you guys enjoy them and that you'll let me know what you think! Leave me a review if you happen to have a moment. Thank you all for being so fantastic and long suffering, love you all!**

**Oh, and for anyone who reads my other ongoing story _Monsters Aren't Born, They are Created_, now that I am done writing this one I will be able to focus on that story, hopefully it will be updated soon. **


	18. Chapter 15

**Hello again lovelies! I meant to have this up like two days ago, but I've been feeling so sick that it just didn't happen. But here it is now and I really hope you all like it!**

**hazu23**** – Yay :D**

**catch39**** – glad you liked it!**

**I ****_still _****don't own Eric and Divergent.**

**Chapter 15**

**Eric's POV**

I am almost back to Gidget's hospital room, with Alvin and Four following a few feet behind me, when I hear a laugh pierce the silent hallway. The obviously male laugh is followed by Gabby's muffled voice, I can't understand what she's saying until I am about to open the door.

"… but you can never, ever tell him I told you that."

I grab the knob and open the door to find Uriah sitting in my chair, an empty tray sitting on the foot of the bed. Gabby is sitting up, she's still pail but some of the light has returned to her blue eyes. Her expression is still clouded with worry but she looks better.

"Eric," Uriah says with a smirk as he watches the three of us enter, "We were just talking about you."

Gabby reaches forward and smacks the side of his head, giving him a look when he turns to look at her. She looks up at me and a small smirk finds her lips before disappearing once again. "So, what's the plan?" She asks, her eyes moving from me to Four and then back again.

"Well, that's part of what we wanted to talk to you about," Four replies slowly.

Gabby gives him a look before turning her attention back to me, "You're going with them?"

"I'm considering it," I reply carefully. Sometimes it's insane how much she can terrify me. "We wanted to get your opinion. They could use an extra gun to make sure they get back into the city. Once they get in, it would be much easier for me to find Andrew and your parents than it would for anyone else. Since your parents know me, they'll be more likely to trust me than they would if Uriah or Alvin approached them and tried to inject them with something. I could help them get in, inoculate your parents, and head straight back here with Andrew. I'd be gone for a few hours."

She studies me for a moment. I can tell that she sees the logic in our plan, but it's obvious she also doesn't want me to go. "What are the rest of us doing?" She asks, choosing to wait until she has heard the rest of the plan to give her opinion.

"Tris, Caleb, and Cara will stay here," Four starts. "They're going to break into the weapons vault."

"I thought you said that was a suicide mission," Gabby replies, studying Four.

He nods, "It is. Caleb volunteered." He takes a deep breath, "Tris is going to help get him in and Cara will handle the control room. The plan is for Caleb to release the aerosol version of the memory serum into the air, wiping the memories of all Bureau employees. Well, except for us and the employees who are with us. The discrimination is too deeply engrained, if we are going to get this fixed before something terrible happens, we need to eliminate their negative influence."

He glances at Alvin, who then takes a step forward, "You'll still be in here, obviously, so I'm going to talk to a friend of mine who's a nurse about helping us. Eric said that someone will need to be monitoring Jesse and Alexandra all the time, so we can't risk enacting our plan until we know someone with medical training is on our side."

Gabby nods in agreement before giving him a confused look as something seems to occur to her, "Why can't we just ask Celeste?"

Alvin tilts his head and makes a face, "Celeste is great, she's nice and not overly judgmental about the whole GD verses GP thing, but she's also one of David's close friends. We might be able to trust her to help, but I don't think it's worth the risk."

Gabby nods again before turning back to face me, "Are you sure about this?"

I take a deep breath, "I don't want to leave you and the kids here for any amount of time, but I also think it will be better for everyone if we can get in and back out as quickly as possible. I don't want to go, but I think I need to."

She stares into my eyes for a few moments before nodding, "Okay." She may be agreeing, but I can see the fear hidden in her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening, Gabby's nurse takes the two of us to see the twins for the first time. Well, the first time I've seen them when they are stable anyway. She pauses at the door, looking back to where I am standing behind the wheelchair Gabby is in.

"Even though they're stable now, it might still be hard to see them like this," She says softly, "Just be prepared."

Gabby nods and the nurse holds the door as I wheel her in. The room is white, very sterile looking. The two chambers holding the twins are positioned in the middle of the room, surrounded by machines. The first chamber holds a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket. Alexandra's eyes are shut tight and her little hands are balled into fists. I glance down at Gabby, her eyes are full of tears but she has a small smile on her face.

"Hey there," She whispers softly, moving her hand to rest on the glass near our daughter's head.

The twin's nurse appears at Gabby's side. She's older, her hair is beginning to grey and her skin is beginning to wrinkle. She nods to me and smiles at Gabby before gesturing toward a blank card attached to the foot of the chamber, "Do you have names chosen?"

"Alexandra," Gabby replies without looking away from the baby, "Alexandra Jessica Nelson."

The nurse nods and begins to search for a pen. I hear Alice whisper something behind me and I turn to see her leaning over Jesse's bed. When I look back Gabby is watching them too so I move her over to see our son.

He looks a little smaller than his sister, if that's even possible, but he has more hair than she does. The hair he does have is dark brown, just like his mothers. He has a tube running into his left nostril. Gabby turns to Alice and she seems to read her mind, "Oxygen. He was having some trouble getting enough air on his own."

I think back to the operating room, staring at his lifeless little body until he started breathing. I shake the thought off as the older nurse comes over to get his name.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Alice forces us to go back to Gabby's room because she is in pain and wearing herself out, it is completely dark outside and the halls are only dimly lit to allow patients to sleep. I see Alvin standing at the nurse's station down the hall, he's leaning against the counter like he's waiting for something.

"Al," Gabby calls when we reach her door. He looks up, his eyes landing on Gabby and then moving to Alice who is standing next to me.

I hear him say never mind to the nurse before starting to walk our way. "Hey," He says with a smile, "How are the twins?"

Gabby doesn't reply at first, I can't see her face but I can tell by Alvin's reaction and the slight crackle in her voice when she does reply that she is trying to keep back tears. "Alive," She settles on and he nods before leaning forward to give her a hug.

I start for the door knob and he moves out of my way. "I actually came to look for Alice," He says giving the nurse a smile, "It's your lunch break, right? I wanted to see if you wanted to go get something to eat?" She nods in response and he glances at Gabby, "I'll be back later to discuss that thing we were talking about earlier."

She nods and watches as the walk down the hall for a moment before chuckling. "What?" I ask as we start into her room.

"Oh nothing," She replies with a small, knowing smirk.

We are just finishing up our late dinner when Alvin reappears with Four, Uriah, and Tris in tow. He pulls up the extra chair someone brought in earlier and Uriah perches on the foot of the bed by Gabby's legs.

Four shuts the door softly before moving to stand next to Tris at the foot of the bed. "It looks like everything is in place for our plan," He begins quietly, "Alvin found someone to agree to keep an eye on Gabby and look after the babies."

"Alice?" Gabby asks, the knowing smirk returning to her face for a moment.

He nods, "Yeah, I trust her."

"I'm sure you do," Gabby sings.

"Oh, shut up," He replies with a smirk, "It's not like that."

Gabby nods but the smirk reappears, "Whatever you say, Al."

He rolls his eyes before glancing back toward Four and Tris. Four pulls a vial from his jacket pocket and Tris hands him a set of hypodermic needles from hers. "We already inoculated pretty much everyone else," Four begins. I catch a brief flicker of something cross Tris' face but it disappears quickly. I consider calling her out on it, but I decide not to. She's not quite stupid enough to let something that could get us all killed go by without mentioning it, so it must not be important.

Four fills the two needles and hands them to me. I gab one into the side of my neck before turning toward my wife. She brushes her hair out of the way and tilts her head. I put the caps back on the needles and shove them into my pocket, not wanting to risk someone finding them here in the trash can.

"Okay, is everyone clear on what their job is?" Tris asks, "We can't afford any mistakes." Everyone nods and we stand there for a moment, stuck in tense silence until Uriah breaks it.

"I'm going to take a nap before we leave," He says as he stands up from the foot of the bed, "I need my beauty sleep, I mean we may be heading off to our deaths but I intend to do it looking good."

Gabby rolls her eyes and holds out her arms to hug him. "Try not to get yourself killed," She says as he pulls away.

He nods and moves for Alvin to take his place. Al hugs her and smirks, "No getting into trouble while I'm gone."

She sighs as he pulls away, "Come on, where's the fun in that?"

He smirks and she tilts her head toward me, "Make sure that one doesn't get himself killed."

"I don't need someone to babysit me," I reply with a smirk.

She shrugs, "History would seem to disagree with you. In the last two years you've been shot, stabbed, and imprisoned twice."

"To be fair, almost all of those were her fault," I reply as I point to where Tris is standing at the foot of the bed. "Actually, all of them. I wouldn't have had to pretend to be working for Jeanine again if it weren't her deciding to turn herself in like an idiot."

Tris shakes her head, "You deserved all of it, and I wouldn't have had to stab you or shoot you if _you_ weren't being an idiot."

I roll my eyes, "Anyway, my point is, she's staying here so I think I'm safe."

"Don't worry," Alvin cuts in as he squeezes Gabby's shoulder, "I'll have him back before you even notice he's gone."

She smiles at him softly, "You'd better." Alvin and Uriah leave a few moments later, and Four and Tris follow shortly after. Alice comes in to check Gabby's vitals once more time before her shirt ends and then we are alone again.

She scoots over until there is a space next to her on the bed, wincing a couple of times as she moves too sharply and tugs on her incision. "Come on," she instructs, patting the space next to her, "We should try to get some sleep before you have to go."

I can't deny how tired I feel, and sleep sounds amazing right now. I crawl into bed next to her and try to at least shut my eyes. I open them again when I hear the door open, the room is now completely dark and according to the clock it is just after midnight.

In the light coming in from the hall I can just barely make out Cara's features, she moves to the end of the bed and shakes my leg. "I thought I'd come and offer you a break, I'll stay with her for a while so you can go get some sleep." She informs me just a bit too loud. She wants to be overheard, it must be time to go.

"I don't know, I really should stay here," I reply, not wanting to sound too eager to leave.

She nods slightly before moving to my side of the bed and shooing me away, "Don't worry, I can watch her." I pretend to think it over for a moment before nodding and sitting up. "Four said to meet him in the basement," She says under her breath as I pull the blanket back and climb out of bed.

"Got it," I reply softly. I lean over the bed and squeeze Gabby's shoulder softly, her eyes flash open and she glances around quickly before her eyes settle on me. "I've got to go, Gidg," I whisper and after a moment she nods solemnly. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it with Andrew."

She grabs my shirt and pulls me down to her, her lips meeting mine briefly before she wraps her arms around me and buries her face in crook of my neck. She finally pulls away and stares into my eyes for a few seconds, "Come back to me. I can't lose you, Eric. I – we, need you."

I nod, "I'll be back before you know it."

She kisses me again, "I love you. Try not be an idiot."

I chuckle, "I love you too." I pull away, nodding to Cara before heading toward the basement. I pass the room where the twins are and find myself pausing to look in through the small window in the door. The room is dimly lit and a nurse is sitting next to Jesse's bed, it looks like she's singing to him. I place my hand on the door, "I love you guys." After a moment I back away from the door and continue toward the basement, hoping that I didn't just say goodbye to my family for the last time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

We get back into the city about an hour and a half later thanks to Amar driving us part of the way back. We break up into three groups, each with our own mission. Christina and Uriah go to find their families, Shauna, Meghan, and Justin to make sure that they get inoculated against the memory gas. Four and Peter go to find Four's parents and try to stop them from destroying what's left of our city, and Alvin and I go to find Gabby's family.

I pull my hat down, hoping that I can hide under the brim. No one here really knows Alvin, but there are a lot of people who might recognize me and throw off our entire plan. Hopefully most of the people inside Erudite headquarters will be asleep since it's the middle of the night; if so it should be at least moderately easy to sneak in. We make it to the back door that Four, Caleb, and I escaped through a few months ago without any major problems and the stairwell inside is empty. We hurry up the stairs, pausing briefly at the door to the Lester's floor to listen for anyone walking in the hall. The hallway is empty so we hurry down the hall to the door of their apartment.

I knock softly but there is no response. I knock again, a little bit louder this time, but there is no response, "What now?"

"Move over," Alvin whispers, fishing around in his pack for something. He pulls out a lock pick kit with a triumphant smile, "I'm glad I thought to grab this."

"Do you break into other people's homes often?" I ask as I glance down the hall toward the elevator and then back to the stair well.

He chuckles but never takes his eyes off of the door, "It is sort of part of the job description. You have to get in and out without being noticed when you make an extraction. Knocking on doors and waiting for someone to answer is sort of counterproductive."

A buzzing noise echoes through the empty hall and Alvin freezes. I turn toward the elevator, it's two floors away according to the lights at the top. "Hurry up," I say under my breath.

"Really? Because I was about to go to lunch and just finish getting the door open later," He replies, glancing up at me for a quick second before turning back to the door.

I open my mouth to reply but before I can the door opens to reveal a confused and slightly irritated looking Martin Lester. He looks down at Alvin for a brief moment before looking up at me. He grabs the hat off of my head and crosses his arms, "Eric? What are you doing here?"

I open my mouth to answer but the sound of the elevator buzzing twice to signal that it has reached it's destination cuts me off. My hand moves behind my back to grab the gun tucked into my waist band. Gabby's father must see the panic on both of our faces because he ushers us in just as the doors start to open.

He shuts the door softly behind us before turning back to face us sternly. "Eric, care to explain why you were trying to break into my home? Aren't you and my daughter supposed to be out of the city?"

"Yeah, we are," I start slowly, trying to decide how to word this. "I just came back in to get a couple of things for Gabby and to give you and Mrs. Lester something."

"What did you came to give us?" He asks curiously.

"Martin, what's going on out here?" Gabby's mother asks from the hallway. She comes around the corner and her eyes land on me almost instantly, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"He is here to pick up a couple of things for Gabriella and he says he has something to give us. Nothing is wrong, Madeline," Martin replies.

"No," She replies as she crosses the room to stand in front of me. "Something is wrong, you can tell from his body language and the expression on his face."

"The boy's just snuck into the city and gotten caught trying to break into our house, of course he looks nervous!"

"Break into our house? Eric, what's going on here," She replies, crossing her arms over her chest just like her husband's. I glance over at Alvin who he is watching them with wide eyes, after a moment he glances at my and shrugs.

Andrew rounds the corner just in time, rubbing his eyes approaches us, and I spring to me feet. "Andrew, can I speak to you in private?" I ask as I grab his arm and drag him around the corner and back into his room.

"You possess the ability to speak to me in private," he replies through a yawn, "I think you mean may I speak to you in private." He moves to sit on the bed, stretching his arms as he sits on the edge. "Wait," He says, looking up at me in confusion, his eyes much more alert now. "Why are you here? I thought you were out there beyond the fence with my sister."

"I came to get you," I take a deep breath before continuing, "It's Gabby."

**Let me know what you thought of the chapter if you have a moment! I'm hoping that I can get the next chapter up this weekend. Talk to you guys soon.**


	19. Chapter 16

**Hello again my lovely readers! I can't believe that this is almost the end, it's completely unreal. But I do have a surprise for you guys after this story is over. **

**Thank you for the review Guest, I'm glad you liked the last chapter! **

**I still haven't managed to buy Eric or the rights to Divergent, I only own my OCs.**

**Chapter 16**

**Gabby's POV**

After Eric left it took me a long time to get back to sleep. Cara and I talked about anything except for the plan for a couple hours, doing our best to distract each other from worrying about what would happen in the morning. We talked about Will and how much she misses him. We talked about Jessica and Carl, and my nightmares. We talked about the twins. We talked about growing up in Erudite, and the difference between Erudite and Dauntless initiations. Even if some of the stories were ones we had told each other before.

Finally, the night nurse came in and brought me a pain pill and something to help me sleep. I hesitated to take it at first, but Cara convinced me that I needed to get some rest if I wanted to recover, and that Eric would be back before I woke up. So I took the pills and shortly thereafter the world began to fade away and I drifted off into a heavy dreamless sleep.

When I open my eyes again there is light streaming in through the blinds. I sit up slowly and glance around my hospital room; I'm alone. "Eric?" I hear myself ask, even though I'm pretty sure that the room is empty. I glance at the clock, it's a quarter to seven. It should have taken around half an hour to get organized and leave the compound, two hours to get back to the city and sneak into Erudite, half an hour to find my family, and probably three hours to get back since it would require more walking than the way there when Amar was driving. He should be back by now. I feel my stomach drop and my heart begins beating faster.

I start to pull myself out of the bed, trying my best to ignore the throbbing pain in my abdomen. I swing my legs over the edge, the movement sends a fresh wave of pain through me and I can't suppress a cry from getting out. A couple moments later the door opens and in walks my exhausted nurse.

"Whoa, sweetie," She responds as she rushes to where I'm sitting, "You need to slow down or you'll tear your stitches."

I study her for a moment, I can't tell her why I'm really getting up. "I wanted to go see me son and daughter," I finally respond. Maybe Eric is there, he might have wanted to check on them on his way back to my room or maybe Andrew wanted to see them. I may very well be panicking for nothing, but if I am right and he isn't here, Alice may know what to do.

"Okay, hang on for a minute while I grab a wheelchair." She waits until I nod in agreement before backing away and watching me for a moment before hurrying out the door. I pinch the bridge of my nose for a few seconds, trying to calm myself down, but I know I won't be able to calm down until I know he's okay.

"Here we go," The nurse announces as she walks back into the room with a wheelchair. "But next time don't get out of bed on your own, dear, I don't want you falling on my watch." She winks at me before moving to help me stand up, and for the briefest of moments I feel incredibly guilty for what we are about to do. Chances are this woman is no more to blame for what David and his council have done than my family were for what Jeanine did to the Abnegation. If we wipe her memory along with David's, are we any better than people like Evelyn?

"What is it?" She asks, her voice breaking my concentration on my current moral crisis.

I think about my family, my friends who are still inside the fence. I can't risk losing them to save the memories of a women I don't even know. "No, sorry, I'm fine."

She studies me for a moment, a look in her eyes that reminds me of my mother, the way she looks at me when she knows I'm hiding something. After a moment the look vanishes and she begins to wheel me down to see the babies.

When she opens the door to their room there is an older nurse studying the heartrate monitor on Alexandra's bed and Alice is sitting next to Jesse. As I'm wheeled in she looks up and smiles at me, until the door shuts and she realizes that it's just me and my nurse.

_Eric?_ I mouth when I am confident that neither of the other nurses are paying attention to me.

She shakes her head no before glancing at her watch and giving me a concerned look. She studies me for a moment before standing up and smoothing out her shirt. "As long as you're both in here, I'm going to run to the ladies room, if that's alright with both of you."

My nurse nods and gives her a quick smile before turning back to my daughter. Alice takes that as her cue to go, squeezing my shoulder as she hurries out of the room. She has been gone for about five minutes when a man in a guard uniform pokes his head in.

"Nothing to worry about, ladies, but we're asking everyone to stay put for a while," He says in a calm, even tone, but his eyes betray that something is wrong. The attack has started.

What feels like an eternity later, I am standing over Jesse's bed when the door opens again. Alice appears carrying a tablet under her arm. "Sorry it took me so long. I almost forgot that I had promised to show Gabby something, I even brought my tablet in but I forgot it in my locker. I hope you don't mind that I stopped by to grab it."

"No problem, sweetie," My nurse calls over her shoulder, not really paying attention to either because she is too engrossed in her conversation with the other nurse. "I hope they didn't give you any trouble for being in the hall."

"No, no trouble," Alice replies with a slightly fake sounding chuckle. "Here's that thing I promised to show you, it's already pulled up," Alice says in a cheerful voice that doesn't at all match the panicked look in her eyes when they meet mine.

I tap the tablet and it lights up, a video is paused on the screen. I push play and quickly realize that it's the security footage from the camera pointed at the front lobby. She must have had someone help her pull up the security cameras, or "borrowed" the tablet of someone who has access. No wonder it took so long. I glance at the time stamp, 07:13:34, before glancing at the clock. It's 7:20 now.

I glance up at Alice, she is biting her thumb nervously, but when she notices me staring she motions back to the tablet. I take a deep breath before looking back down. The lobby is empty for the first few seconds, but then Eric comes into view with Alvin close behind. They are coming from inside the building, which doesn't surprise me since Alvin's plan was to sneak back in through a tunnel in the basement, but what is surprising is that they are heading toward the weapon's vault.

They pause, something off screen catching their attention, before Eric turns around and grabs Al's backpack, practically ripping it off of his shoulders. He grabs something from inside and then stands up and starts to run for the hall that leads to the vault. Alvin yells something at him, Eric looks over his shoulder and yells something in response before disappearing.

I look back up at Alice, eyes wide and my heart beating in my head. She walks back over to me and taps the screen a couple times before it switches cameras. "This other one is really interesting too," She says in the same fake happy voice.

I tap play again, this angle shows the door to the vault. It's open and there is a cloud of smoke obscuring the entrance. Eric runs around the corner, pausing very briefly to grab his gun from his waist band before running in.

I sit there in stunned silence, staring at the tablet, a million questions swirling around in my head. I fast forward to the live feed outside the door, Caleb and Alvin are standing back at a safe distance, watching the door. There are several guards on the floor, I can't tell if they are knocked out or dead though.

Why is Caleb in the hall? He should be in there, he should be dead by now. Did he chicken out? Even if he did, why would Eric… I don't finish imagining what could have been going through his mind because the sound of someone in the hall yelling rips me from my thoughts. Everyone freezes, silently staring at the door for a moment until a white fog starts filling the room from under the door and out of the vents.

We did it.

I just hope the cost for victory wasn't more than we were willing to pay.

**So, what did you guys think? Leave me a review if you have a moment! I really love reading your reactions and theories. :D**

**Last chapter and epilogue coming soon! Love you guys and thank you all again for all being so awesome and supporting this story!**


	20. Chapter 17

**Hello again (and almost for the last time) my lovely readers! I meant to have this up sooner but I was waiting for something and I've been super sick. **

**Guest**** – Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapter. Sorry, but it had to be done ;)**

**I don't own Eric or Divergent.**

**Chapter 17**

**Eric's POV**

_**5 hours earlier**_

"I came to get you." I take a deep breath before continuing, "It's Gabby. She needs you"

He tilts his head to the side and studies me cautiously, "Why? What happened?"

"There was an attack, on the place where we're staying. They blasted through the wall and Gabby," I pause, reaching up to rub the back of my neck while I decide what to say. "She was caught in the blast."

He stares at me in wide eyed shock for a brief moment before he walks over to his dresser and starts pulling clothes out. "How bad is it?" He asks over his shoulder as he tries to find his shoes, "Did it cause her to lose the baby?"

"Babies," I correct as I move to sit on his bed. "And no. They had to do an emergency C-section, they're still pretty weak but they're alive." I am about to make a remark about the number of pairs of socks he's packing when I remember the serum in my pocket. "Oh, I also have to inject your parents with this stuff," I add, pulling the vial from my pocket. "And you, but I need to do it while telling your parents as little as possible." He gives me a curious look and I add, "For their own protection."

"Hmm," He replies slowly, "Okay." He starts out of the room before motioning for me to follow, "Are you coming? I thought we were short on time."

I follow him out into the living room where a very nervous Alvin is sitting on the couch watching the Lester's argue. "Dad," He pauses looking back at me and motioning for me to hand him the vial, "I need to go with Eric, but before we go, I need you and mom to take this."

"What is it?" Martin asks, studying his son.

"We can't tell you," I step in before turning to Mrs. Lester. I make sure to stare straight into her eyes when I next speak and keep my tone even. She was Candor, maybe for once that won't be completely useless. "But I promised Gabriella I would make sure you were all three injected with this before I left."

She studies me for a moment, "Okay, I believe him, Martin."

Andrew hands me back the vial, "Great, you help them and I'll finish getting ready."

After I have inoculated both of Gabby's parents her father decides to go back to bed, explaining that he has work to do in the morning. I sit on the couch next to Alvin and wait for Andrew, tapping my foot anxiously to try and keep myself awake.

Mrs. Lester walks into the kitchen and comes back a few minutes later with three mugs of coffee. It's an unusually thoughtful gesture for an Erudite, and I'm slightly confused, until she pulls up a chair in front of the couch. "Start from the beginning, Eric. If my daughter didn't come back to do this herself there must be something wrong."

"Mrs. Lester, we really don't have time to…"

She rolls her eyes as she cuts me off, "Then give me the simplified version."

"It's really not safe for you to know any more than what you already know, Gabby would kill me if something happened to you because I said too much."

"You seem awfully afraid of my daughter for a man who was supposed to be the leader of a faction based around bravery," She says with a raised eyebrow.

I chuckle and take a big gulp of coffee, "Well, she can be pretty scary when she's angry."

"Well, I think I can take care of myself, I have managed to keep myself alive and out of harm's way for some time now. Not to mention that she can't blame you for telling me something if I forced you to."

"Oh, and how do you plan to do that?" Alvin asks with a chuckle as he takes a drink.

She smiles in return, "So, tell me Eric, when did you and my daughter begin this relationship? How long was it going on, right under my nose?"

I am about to laugh and tell her that I don't have time for small talk, but instead I hear myself say, "The morning before my choosing ceremony. I came to see her, to tell her goodbye, I ended up telling her how I felt." I scrunch up my brow in confusion and Alvin shoots me a surprised look. It takes me another couple of moments to realize what is going on, I look down at the coffee cup in my hand, "You drugged me!"

Alvin looks back down at his cup for a moment before slowly setting it down on the coffee table like it's something dangerous. I hear him mumble something under his breathe about being surrounded by crazy people before he looks back up at Gabby's mother.

"Yes, well, you've always been stubborn, I figured this would save us all some time." She takes another long drink, "Now where is my daughter?"

"She's at a place outside the fence called the Bureau. She's in their hospital. She almost died in an explosion a few days ago, so she wasn't well enough to come see you herself," I respond with a growl. I hated this feeling during my trial and I hate it now.

"How–" She pauses, a brief flash of emotion taking over her face, "How bad is it?" She pauses, her eyes shining with tears that she is struggling to hold back, "She was pregnant, did she lose the child?"

"No," I reply, shaking my head. "They had to perform an emergency C-section. It was really close, but they saved her and both of the babies."

"Both?" She asks with a small smile that doesn't match the tears in her eyes.

"Fraternal twins, just like you and your sister. Well, except that one of them is a boy," I reply, trying my best not to fight it anymore. I know that I would do anything to protect my daughter if I were in her place. "Alexandra and Jesse," I add.

She takes a deep breath, looking at her lap like she is trying to decide whether to continue or not. "I know how pressed for time you are, and I do not want my daughter to be left alone in a strange place for any longer than absolutely necessary, but there are a couple of things I need to know." She looks back up at me, her eyes locking with mine, "When you believed that Gabriella was dead, you did some horrible things. I've heard eye witness reports and I've seen footage of some of it, so I know that these aren't malicious rumors or exaggerations. After all that you've done, how do I know that you aren't going to hurt my daughter or my grandchildren?"

My head bows slightly as I rub the back of my neck. After a moment I look back up, "I've done things, out of grief and the desperate need to protect the people I care about, things that-" I pause, looking at the wall instead of at the pair of calculating blue eyes that look so much like Gabby's. "Things that I wish I hadn't, and a few others that I wouldn't undo even if I could because I know that I kept her safe. I'm going to have to live with what I've done. I can't change the past, but I can do my best to change the person I became. I'm doing the best I can to be better; to be the person that Gabby deserves. The person I wish I had been strong enough to be all along." I bring my gaze back to Mrs. Lester and take another deep breath before continuing, "But, no matter what, I would never hurt her, or our children."

She studies me for a moment, "So you intend to build a life with Gabriella when this is all over?"

"I have," I hear myself reply. Gabby's mom raises an eyebrow and I tilt my head to the side a little, "We've been married for a little over 2 months."

Her expression morphs into something between surprise and sadness for a moment before her neutral mask takes over again. She nods, quickly swiping away the tears from her eyes. "What was the vaccination for?"

"A precaution, hopefully it won't be necessary, but the people at the Bureau are considering releasing a gas that would erase the memories of everyone inside the city."

"A gas form of the Abnegation serum?"

I nod, and she stands up, downing the rest of her mug as she does, "Alright then, I'll be ready in ten minutes."

"What?"

Alvin stares at her wide eyed, "It's dangerous, Mrs. Lester, and we really don't have any time spare."

Gabby's mother ignores him, heading back toward her room, "I'll be ready soon."

I sigh and down the rest of my cup; it might be laced with truth serum but desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm exhausted. I rest the mug on my knee and turn to Alvin, "If you tell anyone about that conversation or that I just got drugged by my mother-in-law, I will kill you."

He glances from my face to the empty mug in my hand before nodding, "You know, normally I would assume that was at least half a joke, but… I have no intention of testing that theory."

I grab his mug from the table, replacing it with mine, and taking a drink, "Good plan."

A few minutes later Andrew reappears from his room, "What's going on? Let's go!"

"Your mom is coming with us," Alvin answers with a shrug, "And she drugged Eric."

Andrew takes a deep breath, "I wish that surprised me. Dad has been working on different forms and doses of all of the serums for several months now, and he… tends to bring his work home with him."

I am about to ask if he'll make more coffee while we wait, when it hits me. "All of the serums? Has he been working with the Erudite serum too?"

"Yes, why?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't remember, which one is the Erudite serum?" Alvin asks tiredly.

I turn and smirk at him, "The death serum."

"The dea-" He pauses as all the pieces connect, "If we got back in time with the vaccine, no one would have to die from going into the weapons vault; and we could make sure that the plan works. As it is, there's no way to know for sure that Caleb will survive long enough to let the memory gas out."

"Exactly," I reply before looking back at Andrew, "We need to stop by your dad's lab. Where does he keep his keys?"

When we finally get back to the Bureau, Alvin sneaks us in through the basement tunnel. I want to pause, to catch my breath, but I need to get this serum upstairs before they blast the vault door. I hate Caleb for what he let happen to Gabby. Hell, even for what he did to Tris, which is saying something because she annoys me more than I thought was possible. And she stabbed me.

But, I suppose that I have to believe he can change, that he can be better. If anyone knows how much a person can change if they want to, it's me. If I'm wrong, I'll take him out back and shoot him myself.

"You two stay here," I instruct Mrs. Lester and Andrew, "One of us will be back for you once the coast is clear and we know that the attack upstairs is over."

"Where are you going?" Andrew asks, crossing his arms over his chest like he did when we were kids and he felt like someone was talking down to him.

I point upstairs, "I have to get this to them before they blast the vault doors."

"I'll go with you," Andrew starts but I cut him off.

"No," I say, my voice managing to slip back into my old trainer tone. "Stay here, I can't make sure that we get this done if I'm watching you."

I glance at Alvin, "Let's go." We run up the stairs, the elevator would take too long, and through the halls. We get to the dorm and it's already empty, they must be about to blow the door. I turn and start for the lobby with Alvin close behind. We are almost there when a small explosion shakes the floor, it's too late.

We have just entered the lobby when I hear Caleb's voice followed by guards shouting down the hall. He's not the one who just blew the door. "Damn Stiff," I mumble under my breath. Of course she would have to do this, take her brother's place like a moron.

A voice in the back of my head is telling me to just go, let her do it; serves her right for trying to kill me. But as much as I would like to go find my family and leave her, I can't. I can't knowingly put Four through what I went through and I can't let Gabby down. She's always believed that I was a good person, even when no one else would. I need to prove her right.

I let out a growl, whirling around to rip Alvin's backpack off. I grab the box of vials and start toward the vault.

"Eric, what are you doing?" Alvin yells from behind me.

"Take care of Caleb and the guards, I'll make sure the serum gets released." I don't pause to hear his response. I run around the corner, pausing for only a second to open the box and jab one of the needles into my neck. "Please work."

I grab another one and stick it into my pocket before abandoning the box. When I get around the corner and the door comes into view, I am relieved to see that the guards close enough to harm me seem to have gotten too close to the door. They're all on the floor, motionless.

Down the hall, I can hear more guards, Caleb, and Alvin yelling. I don't have time to think about helping them though. I pause outside of the door, grabbing my gun from my waistband, before stepping into the mist.

My lungs begin to burn almost immediately and my eyes are watering. My body wants to cough, but my instincts tell me to try to suppress it and stay quiet until I know what I'm walking into. I am beginning to feel light headed, so at first I chalk the voices I am hearing up to hallucination and lack of oxygen. Until I begin to hear them more clearly.

"You came here alone?" I hear the stiff ask, "Not very smart, are you?"

I break free of the mist just as she finishes speaking. My vision is still blurry but I can make out her form standing at one end and David in his wheelchair at the other, a gun held in his hands. He stares at her for a moment, before responding.

"Well, you see, I have death serum resistance and a weapon, and you have no way to fight me," He gloats.

I blink several times to clear my vision. "She may not," I begin before he can continue, clicking the safety off and training my gun on him. "But I do."

"Eric?" Tris gapes, blinking a couple of times like she thinks she may be hallucinating.

I shrug, "I'm just as surprised as you are. Now set that thing off so we can end this"

"Not so fast," David counters, tightening his grip on his gun, "Move and I will shoot you, Tris." He chuckles menacingly, "I hope you both understand that this little stunt is going to be the last thing either of you do."

I glance at Tris, she is far too reckless and far too selfless to let that threat stop her. Her gaze meets mine and I nod slightly. I adjust my aim and pull the trigger as she whirls around to face the device. The bullet hits his arm and causes it to jerk to the left. The sound of him yelling and the sound of another gunshot fill the room at the same time.

Tris makes a noise that tells she's been hit, but I don't have time to check if she's okay. I close the distance between David and I, until I am only a couple feet away.

"Drop the gun," I order, aiming my gun at his chest. The brief silence that follows is soon filled by a series of beeps. At least it sounds like she's alive enough to set off the weapon. "Drop it!"

David chuckles as he begins to raise the gun again, a pained grimace filling his face as he does, "Any cause worth fighting for is worth dying for, Eric." His arm is shaking violently, he tries to steady it with his other but it can't stop the tremors. "But you won't kill me. You're far too concerned about what Gabriella thinks of you. You don't want her to see you as a killer, again, now do you?"

If I don't stop him he'll kill Tris and this will all have been in vain. If he survives and has some sort of immunity to the memory serum too, that would put everyone at risk. Including the Gabby and the twins.

His finger starts to move to the trigger, "I do care what she thinks." He lets out a pained laugh again but I cut him off, "She thinks you're a monster." My finger tightens on the trigger; the bang from the gun going off is followed by an unnerving moment of complete silence.

David slumps forward and I lower the gun. I turn to face Tris just as she slumps to the floor and a white fog begins pouring into the room. The right side of her shirt is red with blood and her eyes are wide. I walk over to her and start to pull her shirt up, she gives me a weird look but makes no attempt to stop me.

"I hope you understand," I start as I pull my shirt off to use to stop the bleeding, "That you owe me, bigtime." She chuckles but grimaces at the pain it causes her. "Don't laugh. I mean it, I've saved you from getting yourself killed twice now, Stiff. While you, on the other hand, have shot me in the foot and quite literally stabbed me in the back. Not to mention trying to get me executed."

"Yeah, so you keep reminding me," She replies before gasping in pain as I put pressure on her wound.

"Hurts, doesn't it?"

"God, dying would be better than listening to you whine."

"Okay, sounds good to me. I'll go find my family and finally get some rest, while you stay here to bleed to death," I reply with a shrug as I start to stand up.

"Shut up and sit down."

"I don't think you're in a position to be giving me orders, Stiff."

"Will you just-"

"Are they always like this? Bickering like children when someone is bleeding out on the floor?" I hear my mother-in-law ask from behind me.

"Believe it or not, but this is one of their better days," I hear Alvin respond as Mrs. Lester appears beside me.

I have just made it back to the lobby on my way to clean myself up and find Gabby when Cara wheels her around the corner. Her eyes land on my and instantly well up. She looks relieved for a brief moment before it turns to panic as she sees the blood on my hands, arms, and face.

"None of its mine," I announce as we meet in the center of the room. She nods, doing her best not to cry. When Cara stops she pushes herself up out of the chair, flinching at the pain the movement causes. She looks at me for a moment before her expression changes. I don't have time to wonder why before her hand connects with the side of my face.

I take a half step back, holding the cheek she slapped, "What was that for?"

"If you ever scare me like that again, I'll shoot you myself," She replies before flinging her arms around me. "I told you not to be an idiot," She says into my neck.

"You knew I was an idiot when you married me," I reply as I tighten my arms around her.

"What?" I hear Andrew ask from behind me, "When she what?"

Gabby doesn't answer him, she just laughs into my neck for a moment before pulling back and staring up at me.

"I love you, you big idiot," She says softly.

I smirk back at her, "I love you too, Gidg."

**THE END**

**So, that's it. Let me know what you thought if you have a moment. You're reviews real do mean the world to me.**

****The epilogue will be up tomorrow of Friday depending on when I can finish editing it, and make sure to read the a/n at the end of that because I have another tiny project to tell you guys about.****

**Thank you all for reading! Love you all and I'll talk to you soon!**


	21. Epilogue

**So here it is… Sorry it took so long to get this up. Life got crazy all of a sudden, and I wasn't happy with the epilogue I originally wrote, so editing turned into rewriting it.**

**Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter and to these awesome people for reviewing:**

**sharon mayes 353 \- Thank you, I hope you enjoy this one too!**

**Guest**** – Thank you!**

**I still haven't managed to buy Eric or Divergent.**

**Epilogue**

**Two Years Later**

**Gabby's POV**

I wake up to the feeling that something is poking my right eye repeatedly. I open my other eye slowly to find Alexandra standing next to the bed. When she sees my eye open she tilts her head to the side and smiles at me mischievously, slowly pulling her hand away from my face after a moment. I close my eye again and pretend to start snoring.

"Geh up," She responds with a giggle, reaching forward and squeezing my nose lightly.

I chuckle softly and reach my arms out over the side of the bed. She tries to climb up into my arms, but she can't quite get her leg up high enough and she slides back down. I chuckle again and pull her up, rolling onto my back so that she can sit on my stomach. "Good morning, Lexa," I say softly, trying not to wake Eric up quite yet. "Are you hungry?" I ask through a yawn.

She smiles again, "Mmm hmm."

I glance at the clock sitting on my bedside table expecting it to be around seven, but instead I realize that it's nearly eight-thirty. I feel my nose scrunch up and I let out a low grumble, why are we always late for everything?

The kids wake me up at or around seven every day, except for the days when we should be awake early, then they sleep in. I look back at Lexa and nod my head toward Eric, "Do you wanna wake daddy up?"

She doesn't answer me, but instead responds by crawling over to Eric and flopping onto his stomach. I hold back a laugh as he lets out a half surprised, half pained grumble.

"I'm up, I'm up," He mumbles as she crawls the rest of the way onto his stomach. He opens his eyes and stares at her for a moment before reaching up suddenly to tickle her. She giggles and he smirks at her for a second before turning to look at me. He leans over to kiss me while balancing the baby sitting on top of him.

"Morning, Gidg," He says sleepily before glancing around the room. "Where's the other one?" He asks through a yawn.

I sit up and stretch for a second, "I think he's still asleep, she just woke me up." I yawn again as I start to climb out of bed, "We have to leave in half an hour."

"Great," He mumbles before turning his attention back to the blonde little girl who is currently tracing the tattoos on his right arm with her finger.

I climb out of bed and wander through the hall to the room next door. Those of us who chose to stay in Chicago in the aftermath of the experiment being dissolved got first pick of where we wanted to live. We considered staying at Eric's apartment at Dauntless but decided to pick somewhere a little less dangerous for small children. We ended up in a three bedroom apartment on the highest floor of the Hancock building. Much like Dauntless headquarters, the Hancock building had been a place only the Dauntless used so most of us who live here are former Dauntless.

It took a long time to get used to the city becoming one society instead of five. Although it's been a little over two years, you can usually still spot someone who lived here during the experiment and guess their former faction based on their job, clothes, or even by phrases that they use.

"Jesse," I sing as I wander into the twin's room. We picked this apartment because they could each have their own room, but for now at least, they refuse to sleep in different rooms.

Jesse is awake, laying on his back, mumbling to himself and looking at the ceiling sleepily. When he hears my voice he closes his eyes tightly and wiggles a little further under his blanket, pretending to be asleep.

I smirk and kneel down next to his bed, "Hey buddy, time to wake up." I reach down and tickle his ear and he laughs but tries to wiggle the rest of the way under the blanket. I move my other hand to tickle his side through the blanket and he lets out a loud screech that turns into a giggle.

I smile down at him for a moment before picking him and the blanket up. He pops his head out of the blanket and smiles at me, "I'm hungwry."

"Okay," I stand up and walk back to my room, but Eric isn't there anymore. I turn around and head into the living room. Lexa is sitting on the floor with a picture book and I can hear Eric opening and shutting cabinets in the kitchen. I set Jesse down on the floor next to his sister and he toddles over to coffee table where a couple of toy cars are still sitting from last night.

I watch them play for a minute before heading into the kitchen to find Eric. "Good morning," I say into his back as I wrap my arms around him. He shuts the fridge and turns to face me, a carton of milk in one hand and a pack of eggs in the other.

He pulls away just long enough to set the two cartons down on the counter before he pulls me back to him, his lips crashing into mine. "Morning," He replies when he pulls away again, "I'm going to make breakfast really quick and then we can go drop the kids off with your mom."

"Sounds good," I agree, glancing into the living room. "While they're behaving and you're making food, I'm going to take a shower."

He nods and I head back to our room. I take a quick shower and throw on a comfortable pair of dark blue jeans and a t-shirt. I stop to glance at myself in the mirror for a moment. The woman standing before me looks almost nothing like the girl I saw in the mirror four years ago today when I defected to Dauntless.

Despite the fact that Dauntless no longer exists, I have kept most of the Dauntless physical traits I adopted. My hair is still streaked with blue and I've added a couple of new tattoos. I run my finger over the two smaller gears that I had added to the tattoo on my hand after the twins were born.

I get grab the bag I use to carry around the twins things before glancing at the clock again. We need to leave in less than five minutes so I hurry out into the living room and switch places with Eric so that he can change while I get the kids cleaned up and ready. Once everyone is set we each grab a baby and head for my parent's house. We leave the kids off and then head for the pier.

That first year after the experimented ended was rough. Everyone was confused about who they should be now and the old prejudices made working together almost impossible at first. The city nearly fell apart.

When the day that would have been the Choosing Day rolled around tension was at an all-time high. It was a former Erudite who came up with the idea that we could use the day that the Bureau had used to divide us into groups to bring us all together. That first year was only a few weeks after the attack on the Bureau, tensions were high and it was an extremely stressful and awkward day, but in the long run it was worth it. It was a lot of the city's inhabitant's first real chance to experience what this new society could be like.

The next year was much better, still awkward, but it was much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Now that even more people have come in from the fringe and other cities it has become something more than just a day to celebrate being free of the factions. There are still a mixture of former faction related activities planned, but it's also just a general day to celebrate how far we've come and step away from the work we are all putting into rebuild our home and lives.

When we get to the pier there is already a large group gathered, I spot Andrew amongst them from a block away. He looks somewhat awkward, his scrawny form and pail skin that rarely sees the sun in stark contrast with the paintball gun held tightly in his hand and eye black smeared on his cheeks. It's still weird to see him do things that I associated with the Dauntless.

"Drew," Eric calls when we are a few feet away, "You made it." It took a while for them to get back to where they left off when we were all Erudite. Between Eric leaving Erudite, Andrew worrying about us dating and him hurting me, and the stress my supposed death put on their friendship I was worried that they wouldn't be able to get back the relationship they'd had before.

"There you are, Gab," An excited Meghan says as she pulls me into a hug.

"I'm glad you got him to come to this, I figured he'd hide out at mom and dad's until the game ended," I reply, nodding my head toward my brother as she pulls away.

She chuckles, "Oh he tried to chicken out, but I wouldn't let him."

"Having a desire to avoid being pelted with balls of paint being shot at my at a high velocity is not a sign of cowardice, it's self-preservation."

She laughs and grabs his hand, lacing their fingers together, "You're such a Nose."

I never would have guessed that the two of them would end up dating, they're so different, but they're surprisingly good together. She watched out for him for me during the few months that we were at the Bureau before Eric came to get him, they became really good friends during that time, and somehow that turned into something more about a year ago.

"Morning," A tired looking Justin mumbles as he appears between his sister and I. He's been working with Eric and George to get the police force trained, he must have worked late.

Before I can say anything, Christina runs over with a huge smile on her face and Uriah close behind carrying a big box. "Good morning," greets before motioning to the box. There is a hole cut in the top, just large enough to reach your hand in through. "Everyone grab a bandanna. Green team is meeting at the carousel, yellow is at the fun house, and blue is starting here. If you don't have a gun yet grab one from the table over there."

I reach in first, pulling out a green bandanna and immediately tying it around my wrist. "Tris and Four make it?" I ask her as the others fish around in the box to find out what team they're on.

She shakes her head no as she watches Andrew give Meghan a panicked look when she pulls out a blue cloth instead of a yellow one like the one he is holding. Christina chuckles and then turns to face me, "No, Will is teething so he kept them up last night and they didn't want to leave him with someone for the game. They're coming later though," She informs me.

My attention is drawn back to the box when Eric pulls out a yellow cloth. He smirks at me and as he ties it on his arm, "Sorry it had to be this way, I hope you won't be too sad when you lose."

"That won't be a problem," I reply, returning his smirk, "But try not to cry when I beat you."

He laughs, "We'll see, but may the best man win."

I nod and stand on my tiptoes to kiss him. "Oh, she will," I say as I pull away before running off to get my gun and go meet up with my team.

XXXXXX

An hour and a half later I am walking back to the base area set up for the losers to come and wait for the game to be over. I am almost to where the first aid tent are set up when I hear someone running behind me. I don't pay much attention until they stop next to me and wrap an arm around my shoulders.

I look up from the ground to find Alvin walking with me, his shirt covered in splattered paint. He motions to the blue paint smeared across my left side and stomach. "Who got you?"

I shrug, "They were hiding in the trees, it all happened too fast."

He smirks and we walk in silence for a moment before he stops suddenly, grabbing my arm when I fail to stop too. I follow his gaze to the first aid tent. I don't see anyone we know at first, and I am about to ask what he is looking at when I spot Eric.

He is sitting in a folding chair just inside the tent. As we begin to approach I notice that he is soaking wet and looks extremely annoyed. Just beyond him, Andrew is sitting on one of the makeshift examination tables with his shoe off, his ankle and foot wrapped in a bandage.

We are almost to them when Alice appears holding an icepack. "Hey Babe," Al calls, kissing her on the cheek as we reach her. She hands Andrew the icepack and he sets it on his ankle very gently, grimacing slightly at the pain the movement causes.

"So, what happened?" I ask carefully as I turn my attention to my soggy husband.

He shakes his head, "Your brother pushed me into the lake."

I fight as hard as I can to hold back a laugh as I look between him and Drew, "Oh?"

"It wasn't on purpose. I tripped on something in the path and I accidently knocked him in," He corrects. Eric gives him a look and he moves his hand to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Okay, I might have been looking over my shoulder and not paying attention to where my feet were," He replies quickly, "But it was still an accident."

"You thought you heard a gunshot and tripped in an attempt to run away," Eric corrects with a half glare half smirk. He glances up at me and shakes his head, "It was a tree branch snapping."

"Hey, at least you didn't get shot," Andrew complains, swiveling his torso so that I can see the yellow paint splattered on his back. I raise a questioning eyebrow and he chuckles nervously, "They shot me while I was on the ground."

I can't hold in the laugh this time, "Sometimes I wonder how we're related."

XXXXXXXXX

It's the end of a long day, there's a large group of us hanging out on the roof of the old Dauntless building. I watch for a moment as Meghan and Andrew play with the twins before glancing around at everyone else. Alice and Alvin are talking to Tris about something while Christina talks to baby Will and Uriah bounces him on his lap.

Justin, Zeke, and Shauna are watching from a distance as they talk. Hannah comes over and sits next to her son. She says something that causes Shauna and Justin to start laughing hysterically, and Zeke just shakes his head.

I push myself to my feet and move over to the edge of the roof where Amar, George, Four, and Eric are standing.

"Are you sure we can't change your mind?" Amar asks as I approach.

Four shakes his head no, "I'm done with guns, unless they shoot paint or water."

"Well if you change your mind, we could always use your help with training," George replies.

Four nods, "I appreciate the offer, but from what I hear Eric's got that handled."

George nods and Eric shrugs, "We can always use another trainer, it's going to take a lot of people to set up a large enough police force."

I smile, remembering the days when Eric would have rather shot himself in the foot than admit he needed Four's help. I grab Eric's arm and he glances down at me for a moment before turning back to the group "I'll talk to you about my plans for this next round of trainees on Monday, George."

The older man nods in response before Amar says something and the three of them walk back toward the others, leaving Eric and I alone.

I lean my head on his shoulder and look out over the city. The windows are glistening in the light from the setting sun, it's beautiful.

I find myself thinking back to that girl standing on the stage at the Choosing Ceremony. It feels like it was a lifetime ago, it's hard to believe it's on been four years. I remember looking from the Dauntless coals to the Erudite water and wondering which path to choose.

The path I chose wasn't always easy; so many times over the last few years I have found myself making hard decisions and doing things that I didn't think I was even capable of. Like choosing to believe in Eric when no one else would, enduring Jeanine's experiments, and trying to save our city from multiple threats. It's been a long, rough journey. There have been some amazing highs, and there have been some low moments that I didn't think I could possibly survive.

I try to imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't defected. It might have been easier, but it wouldn't be better than the choice I made. Choosing Dauntless started me on the path that led me to Eric. It led me to meet amazing people like Jessica, Meghan, Justin, Jeff, Uriah, Alvin, and Four along the way. It led me to being the mother of two tiny little fighters who mean the world to me.

Choosing Dauntless led me to this moment, and I wouldn't change that decision for the world.

**Well, now that it's over, let me know what you thought! I always love hearing from you guys!**

*****READ ME***I am going to write a couple of little tiny fic-lets that take place at random points in Gabby and Eric's future. I'll post them separately, so if you want to read them make sure you are following me or check back in. I have a couple of ideas, but if you want to send me a suggestion for a scene that you want me to write, please feel free to send me a pm on here or message me on tumblr! I'm also going to go back and edit these stories from the beginning, just to polish them up. *****

**It's insane to think that this is all finally over. I posted the prologue to The Distance a year and half ago and I honestly didn't expect a lot of people to read it. I was so happy when I got my first review, I was just thrilled that someone actually read the first chapter. I had no clue that I would get such a great response and that I would have so many amazing readers.**

**But here we are, 68 chapters later and you amazing people have left ****499**** reviews between the three stories. As of the time I'm writing this, between those 68 chapters the series has been viewed a total of ****184,114**** times and the stories have been favorited ****501**** times. I have no idea what I did to deserve you amazing people but I'm so honored that you chose to spend your time reading about Gabby and Eric.**

**Thank you, all of you, whether you reviewed and messaged me or just followed one/all of the stories or if you have been silently reading as a guest!**

**It took me a while to finish editing this last part because I didn't want it to be over. I was so sad that the end had finally come, but I know that it's time to move on and to tell a new story. In the words of Shel Silverstein:**

"_**There are no happy endings.**_

_**Endings are the saddest part,**_

_**So just give me a happy middle**_

_**And a very happy start."**_

**You guys have no idea how happy you have made me and how much this journey meant to me. Thank you.**


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